Andy Murray explained how his Wimbledon doubles partnership with Emma Raducanu came to be (Image: Getty)
Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray will join forces in the Wimbledon mixed doubles draw.
Andy Murray has revealed he made the approach to play mixed doubles at Wimbledon with his fellow Grand Slam champion Emma Raducanu.
And the Scot declared: “Playing with her will be brilliant.”
The three-time Major winner pulled out of the singles on Tuesday but is set to play in the men’s doubles with his brother Jamie on Thursday.
But Wimbledon have now handed a mixed doubles wildcard to Andy Murray and Raducanu – and they could start their campaign on a Super Saturday for sport before England play at the Euros.
Murray said he had first spoken to Raducanu about playing together about Covid – and then only got his team to contact her on Tuesday night. “I chatted a little bit with my team about it, saying: ‘So what is it exactly you want to try and get out of that?’” said Murray.
“And firstly, I want to be competitive in the matches and then, I guess, playing with another Brit as well was going to be something that would be nice. And she’s obviously one of the top British players and she would have been top of the list.
“I texted her last night. Thankfully I got quite a quick reply. It was quite late yesterday evening when I sent the message. It would have been after nine so Iwas a bit worried she might be in bed but yeah, I got got a quick reply. She said: ‘Yeah let’s do this!”
Murray added: “It should be fun. Playing with her will be brilliant. I have played mixed doubles a few times when I was young and then the last time was with Serena.
“I really enjoyed it, it’s something we rarely get to do. And to get a chance to do it with Emma…well, it’s my last chance to do it, so it should be good. She’s obviously unbelievably competitive and likes playing in the big stadiums and stuff with crowds so I expect she’ll deal with that really well.
“I’ve always enjoyed the mixed doubles so I think it will be good.”
The Murray brothers trained together at Aorangi Park today and played a practice set and match tiebreak against Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.
Asked if his fitness is ok, Andy Murray said: “I think so. Obviously my leg will keep getting better. Fitness wise I am fine, I was playing five set singles matches a few weeks ago on the clay. I played three sets of singles at Queens. I have not lost that fitness, it’s still there.
“I just need the leg to be a little stronger.”
