‘I hope he doesn’t hate me too much’ – Emma Raducanu reveals she held clear-the-air talks with Andy Murray
EMMA RADUCANU has held clear-the-air talks with Andy Murray.
The tennis star pulled out of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, which would have been the Scot’s final appearance at the tournament.
Murray, 37, retired from tennis last year following Team GB’s exit from the doubles at the Paris Olympics.
But he was denied a farewell at Wimbledon after Raducanu, 22, withdrew from the mixed doubles.
He admitted that he had not spoken to her but insisted he harboured no bad feelings.
The world No61 has now revealed that she has spoken to Murray in order to clear the air.
She said: “He’s someone I respect a lot and I just didn’t want any negative tension in the air, more than anything, because I’m going to see him around.
“I just didn’t want that. It didn’t feel right, so I texted him and he replied, and it was like a really nice message.
“So I’m glad I did that and I just hope he doesn’t hate me too much.”
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
Raducanu ran into Murray in person at the Australian Open, where she beat Amanda Anisimova in the second round.
She admitted that he congratulated her on her victory and that it was nice to have his support.
She added: “I saw Andy today, and he said: ‘well done’, and congratulated me.
“That was really nice. He’s someone that I look up to a lot. So it’s good to have that pat on the back from him.
“Whether or not I can turn back time and do things differently, that’s in the past.
“All I can do is kind of evaluate that and learn going forwards.
“And I wanted to take the initiative, because growing up, he was one of my idols, and he still is, with everything he’s achieved in the game, coming from the UK and the same system and everything.”
Raducanu will take on Polish second seed Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
Andy Murray's career timeline
SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era.
After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year.
In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012.
Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court.
But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final.
In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title.
Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open.
But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic.
He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro.
Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 – the first British man to do so in history.
Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson).
He finishes his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings.
His final match was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-final of the men’s doubles at Roland Garros to USA pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.