Tennis

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu to team up in Wimbledon mixed doubles

Raducanu will be making her Grand Slam debut in doubles alongside the Scot in his final Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu will make her Grand Slam doubles debut alongside Andy Murray in the mixed event at Wimbledon. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
Emma Raducanu will make her Grand Slam doubles debut alongside Andy Murray in the mixed event at Wimbledon. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
Wed Jul 03 2024 - 13:26

Andy Murray will play mixed doubles at Wimbledon with Emma Raducanu. The pair have been granted a wild card, with Murray looking to maximise his opportunities on his final appearance at the All England Club.

Murray famously played mixed doubles with Serena Williams in 2019, with the pair making it to the third round.

It will be a Grand Slam debut in doubles for Raducanu, whose only tour-level doubles match came in Washington two years ago.

The 21-year-old did float the idea of teaming up with Murray two years ago, though, telling BBC Breakfast: “We haven’t actually spoken about it but it’s something we feel we both want to do.”

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They have appeared across the net from each other back in the summer of 2020, when a Battle of the Brits event was staged at the National Tennis Centre during the Covid-related hiatus.

Andy Murray warming up at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Andy Murray warming up at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire

Murray made a reluctant decision to pull out of singles at Wimbledon on Tuesday morning having run out of time in his bid to recover from back surgery.

He is set to play his first men’s doubles match alongside brother Jamie on Thursday, with the opening round of the mixed held on Friday and Saturday.

Asked following her first-round win on Monday about Murray’s influence on her, Raducanu said: “I think the biggest advice is just how he’s always taken care of his operations, how he manages his people.

“I haven’t really spoken to him so much. I think for me it’s just watching him operate day to day, watching him be absolutely on it with everything. Even in practice now, he’s so on it to the minute.

“I think me, when I was a bit younger maybe, showing up 15 minutes before practice to do a few arm curls, swing my hand around and warm up. He’s there for an hour and a half doing treatment. He just sets really good examples.”

Raducanu powered her way into the third round of the singles on Wednesday with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory against Belgian Elise Mertens.

Raducanu has struggled for fitness since her stunning US Open triumph in 2021 but looked at the top of her game as she pummelled Mertens into submission from the baseline, shouting and fist-pumping almost every point won.

The British wildcard raced into a 5-0 lead against the 28-year-old under the closed roof of Court One which was packed with a passionate home crowd.

Mertens did get on the scoreboard to avoid a bagel, but that was the only positive for her as Raducanu clinched the first set.

The Briton then broke in the third game of the second set with a brilliant backhand across court and broke again to go 4-1 up.

Mertens, ranked 33 in the world, held to love in the next game but could not stop Raducanu bringing up two match points with an ace and then winning the first of them after the Belgian went long.

It’s the first time Raducanu has reached a third round of a Grand Slam since her title win at Flushing Meadows and raises tentative hopes of a first British women’s singles triumph at Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977.

“I think I’m playing really good tennis. I’m really happy with the improvements I’ve made,” Raducanu said on court. “I knew all the hard yards and hard work I was doing this year would lead to something. I’m just so happy I’m able to reap some of the rewards here at Wimbledon.”