‘Have to prioritise myself’ – Emma Raducanu defends ‘no brainer’ withdrawal from Andy Murray doubles match at Wimbledon

Her withdrawal all but ended Murray’s Wimbledon career, with the Scot already out of the men’s singles and doubles.

However, Raducanu believes that she had to prioritise her match with Sun over her partnership with the former world No. 1.

“I have to prioritise myself, my singles and my body,” said the 21-year-old.

“I think it was the right decision.

“Yeah, obviously it was a tough decision, though, because it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.

“Of course, I didn’t want to take his last match away from him.

“But at the end of the day I think a lot of the players in a similar situation would have done the same thing, prioritising their body.

“I think with every decision, people are entitled to their opinions.

“Of course, there was a bit of a cloud around the decision.

“I think in this sport, especially, as an individual, you have to make your own calls and prioritise yourself.”

Raducanu was made aware of Judy Murray’s comments during her post-match press conference, but she would not be drawn into a war of words.

“I haven’t seen her reaction, so I don’t know,” she said.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it [when told Judy Murray described her decision as astonishing].”

Murray decided not to compete in the men’s singles at Wimbledon following surgery on a back issue, but he did commit to playing in the men’s and mixed doubles.

“I mean, obviously disappointed because it’s his last match,” she said.

“But, yeah, what a champion.

“I think that hopefully he’ll play in the Olympics and have another farewell there.

“I think going into the tournament, I wasn’t expecting to make the fourth round.

“So for me, it was a no-brainer. I would have loved to have played.

“He didn’t ask me ‘If you’re still in the singles, are you going to play?’.

“That was never a question to be answered.

“Given how I woke up yesterday morning, it was for me a no-brainer.”

Raducanu had levelled the match after a difficult first set and appeared to be on the ascendancy until further injury issues stopped her momentum dead in its tracks.

She received treatment and carried on but could not get over the line as Sun came out on top on Centre Court.

Raducanu was quick to praise Sun’s performance after falling to defeat.

“Yeah, she was very aggressive,” she added.

“I think playing a lefty is challenging. It’s something that I haven’t really played against or trained against.

“I think that going forward, it’s something I probably need to incorporate more.

“But yeah, credit to her.

“She played really well, obviously she is swinging really freely.”