American tennis star Ben Shelton refused to follow in Emma Raducanu‘s footsteps last year when the Brit withdrew from her Wimbledon‘s mixed doubles duties alongside Andy Murray after advancing in the women’s singles – admitting “I wasn’t raised that way”. The 2021 US Open champion caught flak for her choice, which spelt the end of Murray’s career at the All England Club, given the two-time champion had already pulled out from the men’s singles and was eliminated from the doubles with brother Jamie.
Shelton – who is already through to the second round of the French Open after beating Lorenzo Sonego – faced a similar situation at SW19 last year after reaching a career-best fourth round of the men’s singles while also competing in the doubles with Mackenzie McDonald. Raducanu – who cited stiffness in her right wrist as the reason behind her withdrawal – had reached the fourth round of the women’s singles as her decision was branded “astonishing” by Murray’s mum, Judy, who later called her comment sarcastic.
The allure of individual success didn’t stop Shelton from remembering the promise he made to McDonald, which he vowed to keep despite his advancement in the singles. “Yeah, I mean, whenever you’re on the schedule seven days straight, it’s not something easy to deal with,” said the 22-year-old.
“I think five of those days I was – five or six of those days I was actually on a court playing. Maybe six. So it’s not an easy thing to deal with, but I signed up for it. I signed up to play doubles yesterday. Played two extra sets after my singles match, and that’s my decision.”
While he never directly mentioned Raducanu, Shelton admitted the thought of pulling out of doubles never entered his mind as he paid tribute to his parents, Bryan and Lisa Shelton, for the way they raised him.”I think a lot of people probably would have pulled out of doubles in that situation, but I didn’t want to do that to my partner.
“He’s been waiting around for four, four and a half days to play doubles with me. I’m not just going to pull out on the guy. I think it’s a selfish thing to do. Just kind of wasn’t raised that way.” Raducanu – whose clash against Wang Xinyu at Roland Garros on Monday was paused due to the Brit needing medical attention – insisted on apologising to Murray again and said that she hopes the pair can talk soon.
“I hope he’s forgiven me for last year, I still feel bad about it,” she said. “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.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk