Emma Raducanu declared Andy Murray “an inspiration” and fully approved the Queen’s Club decision to name their main court after the British tennis icon.
Just before the start of this year’s Queen’s edition – which is highlighted by the return of the WTA tournament – the organizers announced that they were honoring the former world No. 1 by naming the main court Andy Murray Arena.
Raducanu, who is one of the main stars at this year’s tournament, beat Cristina Bucsa and Rebecca Sramkova on that court. And when asked how she feels about playing on the court named after Murray, she didn’t hide her happiness.
“It's incredible what Andy has achieved in his career. He's an inspiration to all of us. To see him open this court was immense. For us girls, to finally have a tournament here after watching the men play on TV is really nice,” Raducanu said.
Raducanu hopes Murray has ‘forgiven’ her
11 months ago, Murray asked Raducanu to be his mixed doubles partner in his Wimbledon farewell. The 22-year-old accepted and sounded all thrilled about getting a chance to play with the former three-time Grand Slam champion. But then, she withdrew on the day of their scheduled match and abruptly ended the 38-year-old’s career.
Murray’s mom Judy was furious about it and Raducanu drew criticism. Just recently, the 2021 US Open champion apologized once again publicly and asked the British tennis legend for forgiveness.
“I hope he’s forgiven me for last year, I still feel bad about it. I’m looking forward to seeing him around and having a conversation. I think he would give great advice, he’s been in a similar situation and would probably understand a lot of things that I’m also going through. But as to anything more, I don’t know, that’s very far out of thought," Raducanu said at the French Open.
