- Emma Raducanu went in search of a first Wimbledon quarter-final on Sunday
- She withdrew from mixed doubles with Andy Murray due to wrist ‘soreness’
- Raducanu started shaky against qualifier Lulu Sun, who is a shock at this stage
Emma Raducanu was all smiles as she emerged onto Centre Court, just 24 hours after her withdrawal from mixed doubles ended Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career.
Raducanu pulled out to prioritise her singles run after she felt ‘soreness’ in her right wrist.
On Saturday she practised with strapping on her wrist but when she appeared to take on New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun on Sunday there was no sign of the strapping from a day prior.
Raducanu made a tentative start and was swiftly punished, being broken in her opening two service games to fall in a 3-0 hole.
Roared on by the crowd, the 21-year-old finally looked to settle in the fourth game, forcing a break point opportunity with a brilliant cross-court backhand winner.
A double fault from Sun, who is playing in the biggest match of her career to date, gave Raducanu one of her breaks of serve back.
The match arrived on the back of plenty of noise on social media overnight regarding the abandonment of the Murray mixed doubles.
Raducanu cited right wrist soreness as the reason behind her withdrawal and Judy Murray unhelpfully labelled the young Brit’s decision to not play in the mixed doubles as ‘astonishing’.
But, on Sunday morning, Judy Murray appeared to row back on her criticism of Raducanu and her team and instead directed her ire at Wimbledon’s organisers.
Raducanu and Andy Murray were due to take to No 1 Court as the fourth match of the day, meaning an 11pm finish was not out of the question.
That would have been terrible preparation for Raducanu ahead of her fourth round singles match against Lulu Sun, and Judy took to X, formerly Twitter, to fume at the scheduling.
More to follow.