Andy Murray hopes he and Emma Raducanu will prove to be a dream partnership at Wimbledon .
The high-profile pair were given a wild card into the mixed doubles on Wednesday morning, with Murray keen to wring every last drop out of his final Wimbledon.
Murray famously partnered Serena Williams in 2019, with the duo making it to the third round, and there will be just as much excitement around this pairing.
The Scot revealed it had been several years in the making after they played against each other in a Battle of the Brits event in 2020.
âWeâd spoken about it a few years ago during the Covid year, but obviously both of us ended up doing quite well in singles so it didnât happen,â he said.
âAnd then yesterday I was chatting to my team, they were discussing mixed and then last night I messaged her coach and just said, âLook, do you think this is something that maybe sheâd be up for doing?â He said it was worth asking. I asked her and she said yeah sheâd be up for it.
âIt should be fun. I have played mixed doubles a few times when I was young and then the last time was with Serena. I really enjoyed it, itâs something we rarely get to do.
âAnd to get a chance to do it with Emma, well itâs my last chance to do it, so it should be good.â
Raducanu was top of Murrayâs wish list once he decided to add mixed to menâs doubles, where is playing with his brother Jamie.
The 37-year-old, who decided against singles following back surgery last weekend, said: âI chatted a bit with my team about it and they said, âWhat exactly are you trying to get out of it?â
âFirstly we want to be competitive in the matches, and then playing with another Brit was going to be something that would be nice, and sheâs obviously one of the top British players and she would have been top of the list.â
Raducanu was quick to accept the proposition.
âThankfully I got quite a quick reply,â said Murray with a smile. âIt was quite late yesterday evening when I sent the message, it would have been after nine, so I was a bit worried she might be in bed, but I got a quick reply. She said, âYeah, letâs do itâ.â
Raducanu has only played one tour-level doubles match in her career and this will be her grand slam debut but Murray believes she is well suited to the format.
âSheâs obviously unbelievably competitive and likes playing in the big stadiums and stuff with crowds so I expect sheâll deal with that really well,â he said.
âA lot of the skills from singles translate well to doubles. Thereâs a few things that are obviously a little bit different, particularly when you play against doubles players who are doing a lot of crossing, a lot of movement at the net, thatâs something that takes a little time to get used to.
âBut sheâs a brilliant returner and great ball striker so Iâd imagine sheâll deal with returning guysâ serves well. And, when sheâs getting into exchanges at the back of the court, sheâll be really good.â
Speaking after reaching the third round of the singles, Raducanu said: âMy doubles record isnât exactly the longest but I couldnât say no, itâs a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a dream of mine since I was a young girl watching the Olympics.
âAndyâs a hero to all of us. For me itâs a real gift and itâs a real honour that he asked me. Iâm just super excited to be on the mixed doubles court and hopefully learn a thing or two about come to the net or something.â
Murray and Raducanu will play El Salvadorâs Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai of China in the first round on Friday or Saturday, with his first-round menâs doubles clash scheduled on Centre Court on Thursday.
The Murray brothers, who will take on Australians Rinky Hijikata and John Peers, tested out their partnership in practice on Wednesday with a competitive set and a half against third seeds Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.
It is a big day for the British hopefuls on Thursday, with two home derbies on Court One between Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart and Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie, while 22-year-old Jacob Fearnley makes his Centre Court debut against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
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