Rafael Nadal has shown Emma Raducanu exactly how you pull out of a doubles event. The Spaniard was competing alongside Casper Ruud as they reached the semi-finals of the Swedish Open.
But Nadal withdrew from their final four showdown just hours before the match was due to take place.
Earlier in the day, the 38-year-old came from a set down to beat Duje Ajdukovic to reach the singles final in Bastad.
So he openly and honestly admitted that he was withdrawing from the doubles to preserve his fitness after a torrid time with injuries recently.
That’s fair enough, nobody can begrudge Nadal the chance to compete for an ATP singles title in his first tournament back, especially when he was so up front with his excuse.
Raducanu could learn a thing from the legendary 22-time Grand Slam winner.
She also withdrew from the Wimbledon mixed doubles event with Andy Murray just hours before their match.
But Raducanu claimed she woke up with a “stiff wrist” the morning after beating No.9 seed Maria Sakkari in the third round of the singles.
In reality, she probably did not expect to beat the Greek star and progress to the second week.
Her excuse of an ‘injury’ rightly riled Andy Murray’s mum Judy, who wrote on social media that she was “astonished.”
Even more surprisingly, Raducanu’s wrist was back to normal the following day when she lost to Lulu Sun in three sets.
The backlash wouldn’t have been as harsh if Raducanu had just been upfront in the first place.
