Andy Murray confirms he is teaming up with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon to play mixed doubles… a day after he withdrew from singles

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu will team up in mixed doubles this year to form a sensational British alliance.

This means Murray’s final match at Wimbledon may well not be against his brother Jamie in the men’s tournament, but against Britain’s other Grand Slam singles champion.

Raducanu, 21, has only played one professional doubles match in her career, but it seems she couldn’t resist the chance to play with a legend of the game in her final appearance at the All England Club.

This will be only the second time Murray has featured in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, after he formed a superstar partnership with Serena Williams in 2019, reaching the third round.

“I think the most important advice is how he’s always looked after his operations and how he manages his people,” Raducanu said of Murray on Tuesday.

“I haven’t talked to him much. I think for me it’s like watching him operate day by day, watching him absolutely focused on everything.

“Even in practice now, he’s very focused at all times. I think when I was a little bit younger, I would show up 15 minutes before practice to do some push-up exercises, hand swings and warm up, and he’d be there for an hour and a half doing the treatment. He sets a really good example.”

Murray was “proud” but also “extremely disappointed” that his Wimbledon singles run came to an abrupt halt as he had to withdraw before his first-round match against Tomas Machac on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old retired at 10.15am on Tuesday and later spoke to reporters after an afternoon practice with his brother Jamie, with whom he will play the men’s doubles.

“I decided this morning,” he said. “I thought about it with my head down. I told my team and my family that I didn’t think I was going to play considering how I felt yesterday.”

‘I practiced pretty well. I was playing pretty well, but I wasn’t happy with how my leg felt.

‘I wanted to sleep and make sure I was happy with the decision and also give myself a chance when I woke up this morning to see if I felt much better.

‘This morning when I got up I ran around the house a bit. Unfortunately, I wasn’t where I wanted to be.

“Maybe it was a little bit early, but I’m proud. I worked very hard to get at least a chance to play. Yes, it was the right decision.”

Murray underwent surgery on Saturday, June 22 to remove a cyst from his spine.

‘It’s obviously very disappointing not to have been able to play, but where I am, 10 days after the operation, compared to where I was told I would be and what my expectations were, I think is really incredible.

‘I’ve been practicing with my brother today and I’m really looking forward to playing doubles on Thursday.’

Elaborating further on her decision to retire from singles, she added: “It wasn’t a clear decision. I thought about it a lot. I practiced a few singles rounds and I did well in those rounds.

‘I certainly wasn’t moving like I would have liked, but I could still be really competitive and the question was whether I felt comfortable going out there and feeling like I could give 100 percent.

‘Doubles is a bit of a different game in terms of the physicality and yes, I’m looking forward to it.

“Getting the chance to play with Jamie here will be special, we’ve never done it before. Hopefully we can have a good run.”

Raducanu will next play in the second round of singles when she plays Elise Mertens on Court No. 1.

She hasn’t spent much time with Murray due to her busy schedule, but the two did spend some time together on the practice courts at Indian Wells.