"Astonishing"- Emma Raducanu seemingly takes swipe at Andy Murray's mother Judy over past controversy in exchange with Frances Tiafoe
Emma Raducanu has seemingly taken a swipe at Andy Murray's mother Judy amid her women's singles campaign at the ongoing Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C. Raducanu's apparent swipe came during a brief exchange with Frances Tiafoe and seemed to refer to Judy's reaction to the Brit withdrawing from the mixed doubles event at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, where she was supposed to partner Murray.
The former WTA World No. 10's decision to pull out from playing mixed doubles with Murray polarized the tennis world. On one hand, some supported Raducanu for prioritizing her singles campaign at the grasscourt Major. However, on the other, some critics suggested that the 21-year-old was selfish in bringing an anti-climactic end to former ATP World No. 1 Murray's Wimbledon career.
When the news of Raducanu withdrawing from the Wimbledon mixed doubles event initially surfaced on X (formerly Twitter), Murray's mother Judy was among the first to react. In her response to the news, Judy had written:
"Yes, astonishing."
Raducanu is currently competing at the Mubadala Citi DC Open and is set to face home hope Peyton Stearns next in the second round of the WTA 500 hardcourt event on Wednesday, July 31. Recently, the 2021 US Open champion took to Instagram to post a few photos of her first-round win at the WTA 500 event against Elise Mertens. The Brit captioned the post:
"Nightcrawler #stateside"
Tiafoe, who is also competing at the event in both the men's singles and men's doubles categories, commented on the post, writing:
"Mixed..... @emmaraducanu", seemingly asking if the 2021 US Open champion was up for playing mixed doubles with him.
Raducanu later replied to the former ATP World No. 10, commenting:
"Astonishing (laughing emoji)"
Andy Murray's mother Judy later clarified her apparent dig at Emma Raducanu after facing harsh criticism
Murray's mother Judy came under fire from several sections of the tennis fraternity for her "astonishing" remark in reaction to Raducanu's withdrawal from the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon. The criticism was that many players, including Murray himself, were likely to take the same step as Raducanu, had they found themselves in a similar situation.
Judy later took to X again, this time to defend her reaction to the 2021 US Open champion's withdrawal. According to the 64-year-old, she was only being sarcastic. She also wrote that the hectic scheduling of Raducanu's matches was certain to have played its part in the Brit's decision to withdraw from mixed doubles.
"Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days. Pretty sure the scheduling (4th match court 1 with a singles following day) will have played a major part in any decision making," Judy wrote.
Right now, Murray is featuring in men's doubles action at the 2024 Paris Olympics, having earlier pulled out of men's singles. The three-time Major winner has paired up with Daniel Evans, with the duo reaching the third round after defeating the Belgian pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.