JUDY MURRAY defended her cryptic tweet following Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal from the Wimbledon mixed doubles.
Raducanu expressed her delight at a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to partner up with Andy Murray at his final Wimbledon tournament.
But after booking her place in round four of the ladies’ singles, the Kent ace pulled out of the mixed with Murray on Saturday – just hours before they were due to take to the court together.
Raducanu cited “wrist stiffness” and was spotted practising with strapping on yesterday.
However, the withdrawal left Murray and his camp “so disappointed” as he missed out on one final tennis match at his beloved home Major.
And the two-time singles champ’s no-nonsense mother took to X to air her frustration – seemingly taking a subtle pop at Raducanu.
Broadcaster Marcus Buckland tweeted: “Astonishing news that Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray. She’s citing soreness in her right wrist. It means Murray has played his last match at Wimbledon. Oh dear!”
And Judy simply replied: “Yes, astonishing,” as her frustrations were laid bare.
She then took to Instagram and shared an LTA post quoting Serena Williams, Murray’s Wimbledon mixed doubles partner in 2019.
Serena said: “Playing mixed doubles by your side was one of the highlights of my life. I’m so grateful I had that experience.”
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Judy’s initial tweet prompted quite the backlash online – with many concerned it was fuelling people to slam Raducanu for withdrawing.
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Judy turned her X account on to private on Saturday afternoon – but made it public again soon after.
And she followed up her ambiguous post with another to clarify on Sunday morning.
She added: “Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days.
“Pretty sure the scheduling (4th match Court 1 with a singles following day) will have played a major part in any decision making.”
And it suggested Murray Snr was more annoyed with Wimbledon – rather than Raducanu herself.
Raducanu beat Maria Sakkari on Friday evening to set up a fourth-round clash with qualifier Lulu Sun on Sunday.
But the mixed doubles with Murray was scheduled to be played as the final match on No1 Court on Saturday evening – likely not starting until around 8pm.
Many expected the match to be put on Centre Court early on Saturday – to give it the biggest crowd possible and have it all done before England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final with Switzerland.
Raducanu herself admitted the scheduling was “not ideal” and revealed she was not consulted on it.
Speaking on Friday, she said: “The scheduling of that was not ideal.
“No [input]. I just came off court and found out myself.
“It’s just an amazing opportunity to be able to play with him. It’s something that I’m going to cherish.”
Tennis fans are hoping the omens are good signs ahead of Raducanu’s Centre Court showdown with Sun.
This is the first time she has won back-to-back matches at a Grand Slam since her fairytale run which saw her crowned US Open champion in 2021.
And eerily, Raducanu dropped five games against Sakkari on her way to lifting the trophy in New York – just as she did on Friday.
PRIZE MONEY for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships is a new record – and puts the grass-court Slam at the top of the tree.
The All England Club will dish out £50million across all the events – an increase of £5.3m and 11.9 per cent on last year, where singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova picked up £2.35m each.
However, the king and queen of grass this July will collect an extra £350,000 – taking the winner’s earnings to £2.7m.
Here is the breakdown for the 2024 Wimbledon singles prize money:
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