LONDON – Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career came to an anticlimactic end when Emma Raducanu, his mixed doubles partner, pulled out of that competition hours before their first-round match on Saturday because of an issue with her surgically repaired right wrist.
The 37-year-old Murray, a two-time singles champion at the All England Club, has said he will head into retirement after competing at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, which start later this month.
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Mixed doubles was supposed to be the last event at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for Murray, who withdrew from singles because of an operation to remove a cyst from his spine on June 22, and then exited in the first round of men's doubles alongside his older brother, Jamie.
“Unfortunately I woke up with some stiffness in my right wrist this morning, so therefore I have decided to make the very tough decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles tonight,” Raducanu said. “I’m disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care.”
She won the 2021 U.S. Open as a qualifier at age 18, and her career has since been sidetracked by a series of injuries. Raducanu had procedures on both of her wrists and an ankle in 2023.
Her fourth-round match in singles against Lulu Sun of New Zealand is scheduled for Sunday.
The All England Club feted Murray with a postmatch celebration of his career after he and Jamie were beaten in men's doubles at Centre Court on Thursday, including a four-minute highlight video that included tributes from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams.
Tournament organizers made the prescient decision to hold the special ceremony after that match — rather than waiting until after he played mixed doubles — just in case Murray and Raducanu ended up not competing together.
Because the brackets already were set for mixed doubles with the official draw, Murray was not allowed to find a new partner so he could stay in that event.
Katie Volynets and Rajeev Ram were moved into the mixed doubles field to substitute for Raducanu and Murray, and will face Zhang Shuai and Marcelo Arevalo.
Murray's 2013 title at Wimbledon made him the first British man in 77 years to win the singles championship at the tournament, and he won the trophy again in 2016.
Murray also won the 2012 U.S. Open, finished 2016 at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, claimed two singles gold medals at the Summer Olympics and led Britain to a Davis Cup title.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis