Emma Raducanu has admitted she feared “bad blood” with Andy Murray following his withdrawal from the mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
The Scot was denied a final match at the All England Club last summer when Raducanu withdrew before their first round match, citing wrist pain.
Murray was known to be extremely disappointed and the furore overshadowed Raducanu’s fourth-round singles run, his best at a Grand Slam since winning the US Open.
The 22-year-old was therefore particularly happy to be congratulated by Murray after her Australian Open second round victory over Amanda Anisimova on Thursdaywhich caused a clash with Iga Swiatek.
“Then I sent him a long message apologizing if I had caused any problems, I guess at Wimbledon that’s definitely the last thing I want,” Raducanu said.
“He’s someone I’ve always admired and I don’t want any hard feelings or hard feelings with him. I sent him a long message and he took it very well and responded saying he was disappointed but he understood.
“We’re good now. We pass each other and say ‘hello’, ‘well done’. It’s obviously really cool to see him and Novak (Djokovic) here too.”
Murray is now focused on training Novak Djokovic as the Serbian looks to win a record 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
While Murray’s focus is now off the court as he helps Novak Djokovic attempt to win more Grand Slam titles, Raducanu is determined not to allow any outside negativity to affect him.
She has had to get used to a lot of noise since her breakthrough in New York and said at her press conference after a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Anisimova: “I think this year I’m getting close pretty well holistically, in the sense of just having good people around me, having a positive attitude.
“Anything that doesn’t necessarily serve me, I’m pretty wild in terms of priorities and focus. Anything that wants to try to influence that, I don’t have time for that. No hate. I don’t want it all just not sort of, let that sink in.
It was another strong display from Raducanu, who showed intelligence to blunt the powerful weapons of Anisimova, one of her closest friends on tour.
There were, however, concerns over the condition of Raducanu’s back, with the British number 2 calling the coach at the start of the second set after feeling discomfort.
Her preparations for the new season were disrupted by a back spasm which caused her to withdraw from a tournament in Auckland earlier this month.
Raducanu hopes she hasn’t made the problem worse, saying: “I haven’t investigated it thoroughly yet.
“I think it’s almost normal when you haven’t played a game in so long, and then to have two really physical ones. I think little problems will arise here and there. I just hope that it This is the case.
“I managed to overcome some pain today, but I’ll just try to recover as best as possible the next day.”
This is Raducanu’s first time through to the third round in Melbourne and she poked her head after a few key points to demonstrate her mental toughness.
“If Katie Boulter saw this, she might have a little word,” Raducanu said with a smile. “I think she’s the OG of that one. We have a good relationship, so I’m sure she won’t mind me using her in clutch moments. But I was just really tough .”
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