"I was hard on myself": Raducanu on skipping Murray's Wimbledon farewell doubles

Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray were set for an unprecedented partnership at Wimbledon, which was supposed to be a special farewell for the former World No. 1 at SW19.

However, the 21-year-old withdrew from the mixed doubles draw to rest while progressing through the singles draw, attracting criticism, including notable comments from Andy's mother, Judy Murray.

Initially, it was announced that the Raducanu-Murray partnership would be the Scot's farewell at Wimbledon, especially after it was revealed that Murray would not be competing in singles due to a recent injury.

The mixed doubles were scheduled to begin on Saturday, July 6, the weekend after the first three rounds of the singles draw had been played. Raducanu had an impressive run, defeating Renata Zarazua, Elise Mertens, and 9th seed Maria Sakkari, conceding just 11 games across six sets.

The young player was in inspired form after defeating the Greek Sakkari on Friday, July 5. She was committed to playing mixed doubles on Saturday and was set to return to the singles draw for the fourth round against the surprising Lulu Sun, a player ranked outside the top 120, on Sunday.

Just a day before stepping onto the court with Murray, Raducanu announced that due to wrist discomfort, she needed to rest and thus withdrew from the mixed doubles, leaving Murray without the opportunity to compete once more on Centre Court.

Criticism quickly followed against Raducanu, including from Judy Murray, who called the tennis player's decision "astonishing," sparking reactions on social media, although she later retracted her comments. "Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days," she said.

Raducanu recently gave an interview with Elle where she addressed the controversial moment when she decided to withdraw from the doubles with Murray to avoid overexerting her body: "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," Raducanu said. "It's extremely difficult when something doesn't go to plan. Some losses definitely hurt more than others."

Unfortunately for the former World No. 10, on Monday, when she faced Lulu Sun, she suffered a disappointing defeat, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, ending her Wimbledon dream.

"I just play so much better when I'm happy and putting my personality out there," the British No. 2 told Sky Sports. "I think I've been playing a lot freer in the last month. I have been expressing myself, I've been fighting and there has been a lot of passion, I've been feisty. And that's me.

"I'm really tenacious and gritty. I just feel a real fire back and desire. I've got that spark back, which is what I'm most pleased about."