Inside Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray's relationship: From childhood hero, to mentor and mixed doubles partners at Wimbledon - how their SW19 pairing fulfils an on-court duo that has been two years in the making
- Emma Raducanu, 21, has idolised Andy Murray, 37, since she was a child
- In 2019 they met and Murray became a mentor to the future US Open champion
- They are now mixed doubles partners in what could be Murray's last Wimbledon
It was in November 2019 that a 16-year-old Emma Raducanu was first pictured with her hero Andy Murray.
Smiling widely in her tennis whites, she and Jack Draper – now the British men’s No1 – had just become the first winners of the Prime Video Future Talent Award, with Murray one of the judges.
Raducanu’s prize was £60,000 in funding over two years plus the services of the three-time Grand Slam champion as a mentor.
Well, fast forward four and a half years, and the 21-year-old’s former mentor is now her mixed doubles partner, with Wimbledon granting the superstar pairing a wildcard into the draw on Wednesday.
Raducanu’s first meeting with a Murray actually came when she was just nine years old and was with the Scot’s mother, Judy.
Emma Raducanu was first pictured with her hero Andy Murray in 2019
Murray, Raducanu's ex-mentor, is now her doubles partner at what is likely his last Wimbledon (pictured together in 2021)
Then the British Fed Cup captain, Judy was running an Under-10 girls’ training camp and Raducanu left a lasting impression on her. ‘What impressed me then was she asked a lot of questions, she was very smart and very good,’ she recalled.
Since that day, Raducanu was on the radar of the Murray family, with Andy keeping tabs on her progress at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton.
In June 2020, Raducanu played against Murray twice in two mixed doubles matches at the Battle of the Brits event, winning with Joe Salisbury and losing with Kyle Edmund.
‘I played against Andy twice and it was great to see how fast the incoming ball is at that level in the men's game, so it was a great experience just trying to return his serve,’ said Raducanu of that experience.
In December of that same year, and with Raducanu into the final year of her A-level studies, she rallied with Murray at Roehampton. So when Raducanu made her extraordinary breakthrough as an 18-year-old in 2021, first reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon and then going on to win the US Open, Murray was not at all surprised.
‘I spent a little bit of time around her on the practice court, but more so in the same building, training close to each other, and watching what she's doing,’ said Murray, who sent his fellow Brit supportive messages throughout that summer. ‘I think for a lot of the people involved in British tennis, we knew she was extremely good.’
Raducanu’s fairytale of New York emulated Murray’s own first Grand Slam triumph in the Big Apple in 2012, which she remembered watching on TV when she was nine.
‘Andy is such an inspirational person to look up to,’ she said. ‘The amount that he’s achieved, the amount he can do with his racquet and skill.
Raducanu, a wildcard at this year's tournament in SW19, first met Murray's mother aged nine
'It means a lot to have had someone like that,' says Raducanu on Murray's influence in her life
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray first spoke with Raducanu about linking up in 2022
She had rallied with him at Roehampton ahead of her triumph at the 2021 US Open
‘To have him sometimes believe in me, support me, I think it means a lot to have had someone like that.’
A month after Raducanu lifted the trophy on Arthur Ashe, she was then pictured practising with Murray in Indian Wells, where she lost in the first round.
The prospect of a dream doubles partnership with Murray – who famously linked up with Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2019 - was first floated in 2022. ‘We haven’t actually spoken about it but it’s something we feel we both want to do,’ said Raducanu.
However, it has taken another two years for Raducanu’s ‘childhood dream’ to become a reality, as she prepares to make her Grand Slam doubles debut.
‘When I think of Wimbledon, I think of Andy,’ said Raducanu after her first-round singles win on Monday. ‘Growing up, that was the generation, the hero I would look up to. Wimbledon is Andy Murray on Centre Court.’
Now Raducanu will get to play in that very arena with her idol.
