Andy Murray bids farewell but Emma Raducanu shows there’s life in British tennis
Murray’s emotional farewell headlined a mixed Wimbledon for British players.
As Andy Murray exited the Wimbledon stage for the final time, Emma Raducanu reminded the British public that there is life after the Scot.
Murray battled to be able to make it on to Centre Court one more time and, while he would have much preferred not to be forced into back surgery a week before and struggle through a doubles defeat with brother Jamie, the emotional celebration of his career that followed was the perfect send-off.
Hopefully Raducanu’s hugely encouraging fortnight will not be remembered solely for the furore that followed her decision to pull out of mixed doubles with Murray.
The 21-year-old had not been past the second round at any major since winning the US Open in 2021 but this grass-court season has seen her make major strides again.
She had strong runs in Nottingham and Eastbourne, where she defeated a top-10 player for the first time, and she followed that up by easing past ninth seed Maria Sakkari to make the fourth round at the All England Club.
Defeat by inspired qualifier – Raducanu knows a thing or two about that – Lulu Sun was a disappointing way to end but the smile and free-flowing tennis were back and she will head for the North American hard courts with spirits high.
“It just makes me more determined,” she said. “Tennis is the only thing that is really occupying my time, my mind. It’s all I want to do really. I think that desire and fire is back. I just want to keep building on that.”
The latter two played one of the most emotionally charged matches of the fortnight in the second round, with Dart in tears during the final tie-break before fighting back to win.
She was emotional again after losing to Wang Xinyu in the third round having been up in the deciding set but this was a big tournament for the 27-year-old, who will now try to push on towards the top 50.
The result was a major disappointment for Boulter but she has also had a very positive grass-court season and there is no reason this should halt her momentum.
On the men’s side, the much-hyped British number one also suffered second-round disappointment after losing to a compatriot, with Cameron Norrie bursting back into form to defeat his good friend Jack Draper.
It was a reminder that, after his first ATP Tour title and victory over Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s Club, there remains a lot for Draper to improve on, particularly in his movement.
Norrie put up a decent fight against fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the third round and will hope to have come out of the other side of the slump that saw him drop out of the top 40.
The strength in depth on the men’s side is starting to become encouraging and it will be exciting to see how Jacob Fearnley can progress after a breakthrough summer, including taking a set off Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Away from the main events, there was a historic victory for Alfie Hewett in the men’s wheelchair singles.
After losing in the final the last two years, the 26-year-old finally completed his career Grand Slam before adding another doubles title with Gordon Reid, taking his overall tally of majors to 30.
One of the most remarkable victories, meanwhile, was for first-time slam champion Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara in the men’s doubles.
