Murray’s Wimbledon career ends as Raducanu pulls out of mixed doubles
Ach. Some breaking news we definitely didn’t want to hear. Emma Raducanu has pulled out of the mixed doubles. She says she “woke up with some stiffness” in her right wrist – which she had surgery on last year – and is very disappointed not to be able to play “but has got to take care” given that she’s through to the fourth round of the singles. It means that, sadly, Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career is over. They had been due to play their first-round match on No 1 Court this evening.
Key events
Dart wins the first set 6-2 against Wang
Harriet Dart is back under way on No 2 Court. Perhaps mindful of the fact that the weather forecast is still dodgy, she’s in a hurry, and now leads Wang Xinyu 5-2. Wang is serving to stay in the set – and Dart darts to two set points at 15-40. And a fine forehand down the line seals the set. The British No 2 is looking so much calmer than she did against the British No 1 Katie Boulter in the previous round – and is a set away from reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time.
But instead – Murray’s name is being taken off the order of play board for the final time:
It’s a shame tournament rules prevent Murray from finding another mixed doubles partner at this late stage. I’m sure just about anyone at SW19 right now would pick up a racket and join him on court for his swansong. How about one of the sporting stars in the Royal Box? Maybe Jessica Ennis-Hill or Laura Kenny could be tempted out of retirement …
Data we would like to see….when players withdraw from doubles (or mixed) to preserve themselves for singles, how do they fare in the subsequent match? #WIMBLEDON
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) July 6, 2024
Simon Cambers
Andy Murray has played his last ever Wimbledon match after Emma Raducanu announced her withdrawal from the mixed doubles due to concern over her right wrist.
The pair had been due to play their first-round match on Saturday evening but, in a statement, Raducanu said she was pulling out to protect herself against injury.
“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,” she said. “I’m disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care.”
Under tournament rules, Murray is unable to pick a replacement partner. An alternate pairing will replace them instead.
The news is a huge disappointment for the fans, who were looking forward to seeing Murray, in particular. The 37-year-old partnered his brother, Jamie Murray, in the men’s doubles on Thursday and received a touching send-off, which included a video tribute and an on-court interview with Sue Barker in front of many of his peers, including Novak Djokovic.
Raducanu is due to play her fourth-round match in the women’s singles on Sunday. The late scheduling of the mixed doubles would have left her with reduced recovery time.
Better news: Zverev says he’s OK to continue. It didn’t look that way a few minutes ago. He’s clutching at his knee again following the first point after the resumption, and he’s doing so again following the second. Norrie is serving at 2-2, with Zverev leading by a set to love. This will be hard for Norrie too; it’s never easy playing an injured opponent. But Norrie is able to focus enough to get to 40-30. Norrie then looks as if he’s pulled off a pass, hitting deep from the right corner, but Zverev is somehow able to dig the ball out of the grass at the net! There’s life in Zverev yet. Deuce. Norrie holds from there. It’s Norrie 4-6, 3-2 Zverev.
Bad news on Centre Court too, because Zverev had taken a tumble sliding to the net, and has fallen awkwardly. He’s hurt his left knee. It brings back bad memories of his horror injury at Roland Garros in the 2022 semi-final against Rafael Nadal, when he had to retire with a right ankle injury that kept him out of the game for several months. The trainer is on and it’s not yet clear if Zverev will be able to continue.
It sounds as if it’s a precaution from Raducanu, so hopefully she’ll be fine for her match against Lulu Sun tomorrow – but I don’t think it’s a decision she’ll have taken lightly, given how much it would have meant to her to play with Murray – and how much it would have meant to him and the fans too. At least his Centre Court farewell in the men’s doubles on Thursday evening was a fitting send-off.
🗣️ Emma Raducanu “Unfortunately I woke up with some stiffness in my right wrist, so therefore I have decided to make the very tough decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles tonight. I’m disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care.” pic.twitter.com/M2mS6yk8JG
— LTA (@the_LTA) July 6, 2024
Murray’s Wimbledon career ends as Raducanu pulls out of mixed doubles
Ach. Some breaking news we definitely didn’t want to hear. Emma Raducanu has pulled out of the mixed doubles. She says she “woke up with some stiffness” in her right wrist – which she had surgery on last year – and is very disappointed not to be able to play “but has got to take care” given that she’s through to the fourth round of the singles. It means that, sadly, Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career is over. They had been due to play their first-round match on No 1 Court this evening.
Zverev wins the first set 6-4 against Norrie
At 15-0, Zverev has a simple smash but he’s too casual and skews wide! Zverev challenges but Hawk-Eye confirms he missed. 15-all. 30-15. Zverev’s been commanding at the net so far – Norrie isn’t playing badly here, he’s made only three unforced errors – but Zverev, a recent finalist at the French Open, is being aggressive and coming forward whenever possible. 40-15. Two set points. A forehand error from Zverev on the first – and a forehand error from Norrie on the second. An assured opening set from the world No 4.
Back to Centre, where Norrie is serving to stay in the first set. He gets off to an inauspicious start, dropping 0-30 down. He recovers to 30-all, but then goes long. 30-40, set point. Zverev shanks his forehand, deuce. Ace, advantage Norrie. Zverev decides to drop-shot on the next point, Norrie strides forward … and fires a forehand pass down the line! Norrie survives, but Zverev will now serve for the set. The German leads 5-4.
And look who’s on No 1 Court today.
Thanks Will. So Zverev leads Norrie 5-3 on Centre Court, while on No 1 Court Ben Shelton, the exciting young American, has just levelled his match against Denis Shapovalov, the 25-year-old who was once called the exciting young Canadian but has struggled with injuries of late. It’s one set all now, Shelton taking the second 6-2 after Shapovalov won the first on a tie-break.
Zverev double faults to make it 15:15. We then get a decent rally from the back of court, ending with Zverev limply finding the net. This seems to just make the German angry and he gets to game point, which he takes with ease.
The good news is that I am handing over to Katy Murrells.
Zverev puts the pressure on Norrie, winning the first three points of the Brit’s service game. The German has three break points. The crowd try to encourage Norrie and he gives them something to cheer with an ace, before bringing it back to 30:40 but Zverev is superb at the baseline, moving Norrie across the court, forcing him to ping a shot into the net. We have our first break.
If you like commanding service games, Zverev has you covered. He is looking fierce meaning Norrie has barely provided one convincing return. Zverev wins the game with a beautiful backhand down the line. Oooof! We are 3-3 in the first set.
We do eventually get something akin to a rally in the fifth game of the match but it ends with Zverev pings a forehand well wide. Norrie goes on to win and hold once more. A promising start from both men.
Norrie wins his first point on Zverev’s serve which is a psychological victory if nothing else. That is Norrie’s only notable involvement in the game as the German does good work from the back of court and closer to the net. I am not sure we will be seeing many rallies in this match at this rate.
Not to be intimidated by Zverev’s first service game, Norrie maintains composure to hold his service. The Brit looks in decent nick to be fair and will be hopeful of going long into this match.
Zverev shows he is not too fussed and pings an ace to get himself up and running. The second point is equally easy as Norrie just about returns but the German finishes it off aggressively. Bish, bash, bosh Zverev also wins to love. Norrie, like many before him, has no answer to the serve.
Guardiola is in attendance, sat just along from Ben Stokes. That would be a cracking chat to be in the middle of.
Norries is not messing about in his first service game. He wins it in dominant style to love. That should settle the nerves and show No 4 seed Zverez he means business.
Henman has called Norrie winning in five. Will he be right?
Norrie and Zverev are out on centre court, which is packed with Olympians and cricketers. Is Pep there too? The warm ups have begun.
Shapovalov wins the first set! The Canadian has two set points but only needs one, ripping a forehand past his opponent.
Do not fear, we have some covered action on court one. Shapovalov is taking on Shelton. We are in a first set tie-break. Shapovalov is two points away from winning the first set …
The home crowd is giving Dart plenty of encouragement, celebrating each point with gusto. She is on top here and Wang, who tries to return a second serve but it catches the edge of the racket and pings upwards. Dart lets Wang back in with a double fault and we end up at deuce. Dart is struggling with her serve because of the wind and it keeps Wang interested. After a few tries we end up back at deuce but the match is curtailed by rain. Off the players go and on come the covers with Dart 3-1 up in the first set.
And Dart breaks again. She seems to have adapted best to the conditions on a cold and blustery day, forcing her opponent into mistakes by keeping her moving.
Not to worry too much for Dart as she immediately breaks back and then wins her next service game with next to no fuss. She is very much up and running.
It looks a touch cold out on court 2 where Dart is in long sleeves and trying to cope with gusty winds. She is broken in the first game of the match after being taken to deuce.
Harriet Dart and Wang Xinyu head out to warm up on court two.
Some lovely praise for Andy Murray.
Because we have zero action, I will run through some celebrities in attendance.
A glorious British summer.
Start delayed by rain
Anyway … the bad news is that rain has delayed the start to proceedings at Wimbledon today. The good news is that it seems to be stopping and some covers are coming off.
Soccer and tennis all in one day …
Catch up on what happened yesterday.
Preamble
Hello! Could today see Andy Murray’s final game at Wimbledon? He is playing alongside Emma Raducanu, who has found found in SW19, in the mixed doubles. After the emotional chat following his men’s doubles exit earlier in the week, some might have forgotten he still has the chance to progress into the second week of the tournament, so it’s almost a nice surprise.
In other British news, Cameron Norrie faces a tricky test against Alexander Zverev on Centre Court this afternoon. Norrie made relatively light work of compatriot Jack Draper in the second round, so might be hopeful of giving the German a run for his money.
Over in the women’s singles another Battle of the Brits victor, Harriet Dart, fresh from despatching Katie Boulter, faces Wang Xinyu. Dart’s confidence will be high thanks to exploits in south London and reaching the fourth round would be a fine achievement.
We will be keeping across it all.
