Emma Raducanu has revealed she reached out to apologize to Andy Murray for his controversial withdrawal from her mixed doubles partnership in the Scottish Wimbledon final last year.
“I didn't want any hard feelings or hard feelings,” he said, before adding with a smile, “I hope he doesn't hate me too much!”
On the morning of their first match together at Wimbledon, Raducanu withdrew, citing the need to protect a sore wrist before their fourth-round singles match.
That sparked a wave of criticism on social media, including from Murray's mother Judy, who described the decision as “staggering.”
The topic arose here in Melbourne after Raducanu reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time, and he said: “I sent him a long message afterwards apologizing if I caused any problems at Wimbledon, that's definitely the last thing I want.” .
“He's someone I've looked up to growing up and I don't want any hard feelings or hard feelings towards him. I sent him a long message and he took it very well and responded saying he was disappointed but he understood. We're fine now. We walked past each other and We say “hello”, “well done”.
Emma Raducanu (pictured) revealed she reached out to apologize to Andy Murray
Andy Murray's (left) Wimbledon career ended when Raducanu retired from mixed doubles
The 22-year-old Brit admitted she regrets how things turned out last summer.
Raducanu suggested that he regretted how the entire saga unfolded.
“I really wanted to smooth things over,” the 22-year-old said. 'I can't go back in time and do things differently, that's already a thing of the past. All I can do is evaluate that and learn going forward.
'I wanted to take the initiative because when I was a child he was one of my idols and he still is. He is someone I respect a lot and I didn't want there to be any negative tension in the air because I'm going to see him around. I just didn't want that. I didn't feel good so I texted him and he responded and it was a really nice text. So I'm glad I did it and I hope he doesn't hate me too much!'
The pair met at Melbourne Park on Thursday after Raducanu beat good friend Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5 to set up a third-round clash with world No. 2 Iga Swiatek on Saturday.
“I saw Andy today and he said well done and congratulated me,” the world number 60 said. “That was really nice. He's someone I admire a lot, so it's nice to get that pat on the back from him.
“It's really cool to see him with Novak here too. Two great champions and they're together, it's pretty impressive.”
It was certainly an unfortunate episode, as Raducanu's withdrawal effectively ended Murray's Wimbledon career. It was a ruthless decision from the British No. 2 and while it is common for players who do well in singles to retire from doubles, this was clearly different. Raducanu probably shouldn't have said yes in the first place unless it was an ironclad commitment, but she jumped at the chance to be Murray's last dance partner.
Murray's mother Judy called the 22-year-old's controversial decision “astonishing.”
In any case, now it seems that it is already a thing of the past; There is no gap between the most famous names in British tennis and this can be considered another lesson in Raducanu's never boring career.
The issue arose during a discussion about how Raducanu deals with negative publicity and she responded that she is learning to block things out.
“I'm approaching this pretty holistically, I would say, in the sense of having good people around me and having a positive outlook,” he said.
'Anything that doesn't necessarily serve me, I'm pretty wild in terms of just prioritizing and focusing. Anything that wants to try to affect that, I don't have time for. I don't hate, I just don't want to let that in.