Emma Raducanu says it was “very easy” for the people back home to throw rocks at her after she withdrew from mixed doubles with Andy Murray but also underlined that it didn’t mean she felt great about the decision she had to make.
After Murray pulled out of the Wimbledon singles because he didn’t feel fully ready for that competition after his back surgery, his plan was to play doubles with Jamie Murray. And on Day 3 of Wimbledon, it was also announced that Murray invited Raducanu to play mixed doubles with him and that she accepted.
But when Saturday came and time for Raducanu and Murray’s opening match, the 21-year-old Briton abruptly pulled out and cited wrist soreness. Since Murray had already lost in the men’s doubles event, Raducanu’s withdrawal also meant that the 37-year-old’s last Wimbledon run was finished.
Raducanu faced some harsh criticism and scrutiny, with some using very strong words such as unfair, disrespectful, etc. While Murray didn’t make any comments at the time, it drew lots of attention when his mother Judy wrote “Yes, astonishing,” when addressing the decision made by Raducanu.
“It’s very easy for the entire nation and for the press too to be very harsh on me and I think I can be very hard on myself because I’m a perfectionist. It’s extremely difficult when something doesn’t go to plan. Some losses definitely hurt more than others,” Raducanu told ELLE UK.
But for Raducanu, it was nothing new since she is well-accustomed to being on the receiving end of some harsh criticism.
“I’ve calloused myself to people’s opinions and what could potentially happen so that when things do happen, I can never say I’m surprised,” Raducanu noted.
Raducanu addresses the criticism regarding her scheduling
Over the last couple of months, Raducanu’s scheduling decisions have been questioned a couple of times. The first time it happened in the spring when the 21-year-old skipped Rome and the French Open to focus on the grass season. Then, the British tennis star also faced some major criticism after refusing to play at the Paris Olympics because of the clay surface.
This month, Raducanu started her summer on hard courts in Washington but didn’t play in Toronto and Cincinnati. That led to more criticism, with many arguing that she wasn’t doing the best possible preparation and putting herself in a good position to do well at the US Open.
But in Raducanu’s mind, she isn’t making any mistakes in that aspect and underlines that she will never be someone who has a packed schedule.
“Even when I won the US Open, I only played a few tournaments that year. Yes, they were closer together, but I´m not in any big rush to play those. I think I´d rather target tournaments and play the tournaments that I´m entered in. I don´t think I´ll ever be the player who´s playing, like, close to 30 events a year. I think that´s not my style. It never has been,” Raducanu said.
Also, Raducanu briefly addressed her historic US Open win from three years ago, when she became the first-ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam.
“I think that´s such an epic achievement and these two weeks I completed it. So for me coming back here now, I come back with such a different outlook and just joy and promise, and it inspires me to want to do more,” Raducanu said.
Raducanu on meeting a kid whose big wish was to meet her
On Thursday evening, Raducanu started drawing negative attention after one post on X claimed that she rushed off the practice court without giving any interviews or autographs. It was also said that there was a little girl who badly wanted to meet Raducanu for a selfie and an autograph – and that the 2021 US Open champion was made aware of that.
A little kid who was being interviewed said in the cutest voice, my favorite player is Emma raducanu and the court interviewer tried to at least get her to take a pic with that little kid and she declined https://t.co/lMD1ODKMd2
— Kat (@idontmindk) August 22, 2024
Then, Raducanu addressed the issue on X, explaining herself and asking people if someone could help her trace the fan. On Friday, it happened and not only that Raducanu and a little girl called Remy met, they also hit some balls together.
“She barely missed a ball and she has a lot of courage to kind of go onto the court with a lot of people watching and start hitting balls, and it was nice to meet her and speak to her. Obviously I felt incredibly bad about yesterday but I feel good and I feel happy that I was able to connect with her today,” Raducanu said.