Hey Judy, don’t make it bad.
Take a sad son and make him better.
Remember, let Emma into your heart,
Then we can start to make it better.
Hey Judy, don’t be afraid.
You didn’t mean to go out and get her.
The minute you let her into your heart
Then you begin to make it better.
And anytime you need to tweet, Hey Judy, pause,
Don’t carry the world on your shoulders.
As you know, the media loves to create fools
And make this world a little colder.
Oh Emma, Emma, Emma, Emma!
I feel sorry for Judy Murray.
I genuinely don’t think she meant to sound quite so harsh or to criticise Emma. Judy has a famously sharp tongue and a dry sense of humour, just like her son.
I also feel sorry for Andy and mainly for Emma Raducanu, the torchbearer for the next generation of British tennis, now that Andy is retiring.
Could it have been handled better by Anna’s team?
I would say YES but not in terms of the decision to NOT play. The issue was the spur of the moment decision TO play, considering the risks involved.
Those were three-fold:
Injury.
Fatigue.
PR nightmare if you have to pull out.
Given Emma’s injuries at this early stage of her career, I think she may have been let down a bit by her team.
Emma absolutely wanted to play with Andy when the opportunity arrived very late. It would have been so hard to say no.
She could have helped Andy celebrate his swansong after he was knocked out of the doubles.
It all felt so perfect.
Until it wasn’t.
Until she felt a twinge. Now she can’t win.
If she plays and aggravates an injury, she is out of Wimbledon. If she doesn’t play and makes the “selfish” call to play the singles ONLY as originally planned, she’s letting the hero of SW1 down.
Then she lost. Some will harshly say, “serves her right.”
The thing is, NOT playing WAS the right call in terms of her tennis career.
Accepting the offer to play was probably not in terms of tennis and PR. After all, the offer wasn’t public until she accepted it.
As for Judy’s tweet…sometimes it pays to remember that communication is all about how the message is received, not what was intended.
The media (social especially) will leap on anything like that.
Hopefully we will see public backing for Emma by Judy and Andy in the future and maybe Emma’s team might consider how to support Andy at the Olympics.