Emma Raducanu apologised to Andy Murray to avoid ‘bad blood’

Emma Raducanu said she apologised to Andy Murray over her Wimbledon mixed doubles withdrawal last year as she did not want any “bad blood” between the pair.

Murray was due to play alongside Raducanu during his final outing at the All England Club before his fellow Briton pulled out of the mixed doubles because of “some stiffness” in her right wrist.

The former men’s world number one was not permitted to find a replacement partner as the draw had already been made and was said to be “disappointed” by a decision which ended his Wimbledon career.

It meant Murray’s last match at the tournament was a defeat alongside older brother Jamie in the men’s doubles earlier on at the event.

Murray’s mother Judy – in response to a post on X from television presenter Marcus Buckland describing Raducanu’s decision as “astonishing” – wrote: “Yes, astonishing.”

After a string of negative responses, she later wrote: “Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days. Pretty sure the scheduling… will have played a major part in any decision-making.”

Raducanu addressed the issue after her second round win against Amanda Anisimova at the Australian Open on Thursday.

“Afterwards I sent him [Andy Murray] a long message basically apologising if I caused any trouble, I guess, at Wimbledon, that’s definitely the last thing I want,” said Raducanu.

“He’s someone that I’ve grown up looking up to and I don’t want any bad blood or harsh feelings with him.

“I sent him a long message and he took it really well and responded saying he was disappointed but he understood.”

Murray, who retired after competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, is also at the Australian Open as he is part of Novak Djokovic’s coaching team.

“We’re fine now,” added Raducanu. “We walk past each other and say, ‘hello’, ‘well done’. It’s obviously really cool seeing him with Novak [Djokovic] here as well.”