Emma Raducanu admitted she feared “bad blood” with Andy Murray following her mixed doubles withdrawal from Wimbledon.
The Scot was denied a finals match at the All England Club last summer when Raducanu withdrew before their first-round contest, citing wrist pain.
Murray was known to be extremely disappointed and the anger overshadowed Raducanu’s run to the fourth round of singles, her best at a Grand Slam since her US Open win.
So the 22-year-old was especially happy that Murray congratulated her afterwards Australian Open second round win against Amanda Anisimova on Thursdaywhich raised a clash with Iga Swiatek.
“Then I sent him a long message apologizing if I caused any trouble, I think, at Wimbledon, that’s definitely the last thing I want,” Raducanu said.
“He’s someone I’ve grown up watching and I don’t want any bad blood or hard feelings with him. I sent him a long message and he took it very well and replied saying he was disappointed but he understood .
“We’re good now. We pass each other and say, ‘hello’, ‘well done’. Obviously, it’s great to see him with Novak (Djokovic) here as well.”
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 try to win more Grand Slam titles, Raducanu is determined not to let any external negativity get in his way.
She has had to get used to a lot of hype since her breakthrough in New York, and she said in her press conference after her 6-3 7-5 win over Anisimova: “I think I’m getting pretty close this year. holistic in the sense of just having good people around me, having a positive outlook.
“Anything that doesn’t necessarily serve me, I’m pretty wild about just prioritizing and focusing. Anything that wants to try and influence that, I don’t have time for it. No hate. I just don’t want to do it somehow let that come in.”
It was another strong performance from Raducanu, who showed intelligence to beat the powerful weapons of Anisimova, one of her closest friends on tour.
However, there were concerns about the state of Raducanu’s back, with the British No.2 calling the trainer early in the second set after feeling discomfort.
Her preparations for the new season were interrupted by a back spasm that forced her to withdraw from a tournament in Auckland earlier this month.
Raducanu hopes he hasn’t made the problem worse, saying: “I haven’t investigated it fully yet.
“I think it’s almost to be expected when you haven’t played a game in so long, and then you have two really physical games. I think there’s going to be little niggles here and there. I just hope that’s it.
“I was able to get through some pain today, but I’ll try to recover as best as possible over the next day.”
It’s Raducanu’s first time making the third round in Melbourne and she poked her head at some key points to demonstrate her mental strength.
“If Katie Boulter saw this, she might have a little word,” Raducanu said with a smile. “I think she’s the OG of that. We have a good relationship, so I’m sure she won’t have a problem with me using it in the clutch moments. But I was just too harsh.”
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