Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu to play mixed doubles in the first round at Wimbledon on Saturday; you can watch the Hamburg, Swiss and Palermo Open, exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis following the conclusion of Wimbledon
Wednesday 3 July 2024 19:16, UK
British duo Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu will play mixed doubles together at Wimbledon.
The Scot's representatives confirmed the pair have been granted a wild card, with Murray looking to maximise his opportunities on his final appearance at the All England Club.
Murray famously played mixed doubles with Serena Williams in 2019, with the pair making it to the third round.
The Scot revealed it had been several years in the making after they played against each other in a Battle of the Brits event in 2020.
"We'd spoken about it a few years ago during the Covid year, but obviously both of us ended up doing quite well in singles so it didn't happen," he said on Wednesday.
"And then yesterday I was chatting to my team, they were discussing mixed and then last night I messaged her coach and just said, 'Look, do you think this is something that maybe she'd be up for doing?' He said it was worth asking. I asked her and she said yeah she'd be up for it.
"It should be fun. I have played mixed doubles a few times when I was young and then the last time was with Serena. I really enjoyed it, it's something we rarely get to do.
"And to get a chance to do it with Emma, well it's my last chance to do it, so it should be good."
Raducanu was top of Murray's wishlist once he decided to add mixed to the men's doubles, in which he is playing with his brother Jamie.
The 37-year-old, who decided against singles following back surgery last weekend, said: "I chatted a bit with my team about it and they said, 'What exactly are you trying to get out of it?'
"Firstly we want to be competitive in the matches, and then playing with another Brit was going to be something that would be nice, and she's obviously one of the top British players and she would have been top of the list."
Raducanu was quick to accept the proposition.
"Thankfully I got quite a quick reply," said Murray with a smile. "It was quite late yesterday evening when I sent the message, it would have been after nine, so I was a bit worried she might be in bed, but I got a quick reply. She said, 'Yeah, let's do it'."
Raducanu has only played one tour-level doubles match in her career and this will be her Grand Slam debut, but Murray believes she is well suited to the format.
"She's obviously unbelievably competitive and likes playing in the big stadiums and stuff with crowds so I expect she'll deal with that really well," he said.
"A lot of the skills from singles translate well to doubles. There's a few things that are obviously a little bit different, particularly when you play against doubles players who are doing a lot of crossing, a lot of movement at the net, that's something that takes a little time to get used to.
"But she's a brilliant returner and great ball striker so I'd imagine she'll deal with returning guys' serves well. And, when she's getting into exchanges at the back of the court, she'll be really good."
Murray made a reluctant decision to pull out of the singles at Wimbledon on Tuesday morning having run out of time in his bid to recover from back surgery.
He is set to play his first men's doubles match alongside brother Jamie on Thursday, with the opening round of the mixed doubles held on Friday and Saturday.
Speaking after reaching the third round of the singles, Raducanu said: "My doubles record isn't exactly the longest but I couldn't say no, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a dream of mine since I was a young girl watching the Olympics.
"Andy's a hero to all of us. For me it's a real gift and it's a real honour that he asked me. I'm just super excited to be on the mixed doubles court and hopefully learn a thing or two about coming to the net or something."
Murray and Raducanu will play El Salvador's Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai of China in the first round on Saturday, with his first-round men's doubles clash scheduled on Centre Court on Thursday.
The Murray brothers, who will take on Australians Rinky Hijikata and John Peers, tested out their partnership in practice on Wednesday with a competitive set and a half against third seeds Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.
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