Orpington’s Emma Raducanu says decision to pull out of mixed doubles with Andy Murray at Wimbledon was a tough but right call after losing to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun in fourth round

Emma Raducanu insisted she had no regrets about pulling out of her mixed doubles with Andy Murray after her own Wimbledon campaign ended.

Raducanu's decision to prioritise her singles bid - ended by New Zealander Lulu Sun in the fourth round on Sunday - continued to divide opinion at the All England Club.

Her withdrawal meant no final flourish at SW19 for double Wimbledon champion Murray, who is set to retire from tennis after the Olympic Games this summer. Raducanu’s supporters were in full voice on a partisan Centre Court but they certainly didn't include Judy Murray, Andy’s mother, who dubbed the call 'astonishing', though later claiming she was being sarcastic.

"I don't think it was a mistake to accept the chance to play with Andy, I had to prioritise my singles and I stand by it," Orpington’s Raducanu said following her 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 defeat which ends home interest in the singles for another year.

"It was a tough decision because playing with Andy was a dream. I didn't want to take his last match away from him.

"With every decision people are entitled to their opinions, there was a cloud around it but I don't think I'd have done it any other way, especially with my history of injuries. I'd hadn't seen what Judy Murray said, I'm sure she didn't mean it.

"Hopefully he'll play in the Olympics and get another farewell then."

The wasn't a lot of sun at Wimbledon on Sunday but out on Centre Court Kiwi Sun was shining brightest of all. In a championship that is seemingly being played in perpetual stygian gloom, the 23-year-old New Zealander is a much-needed beaming ray of light.

Raducanu knows all about sporting fairytales, following her run through qualifying to win the US Open three years ago. And while this fourth round defeat - especially with the draw ahead so open - will sting, there was plenty of respect for the unknown qualifier.

Sun, 23, is playing in just her second Grand Slam tournament and had never beaten a player outside the top 100 before this year’s Wimbledon, China's Zheng Qinwen, the world No.8, her first round victim.

Her win makes tennis history in New Zealand - a quarter-final appearance wiping Maori legend Dame Ruia Morrison, who made it through to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 1959, from the record books.

"I've beaten two top-10 players in the last two weeks and that's a big deal that I'm going to take real confidence from," added Raducanu, determined to accentuate some positives.

"Six months ago I'd have signed on for the fourth round of Wimbledon but the defeat makes me more hungry, especially as I feel I'm finally tracking in the right direction.

"Her tennis was just better and she deserved the win. She was very aggressive and she took the ball on every chance she had. I expected a tough match, she just kept swinging and never really missing.

"I need to work on the consistency of being good every day, this just makes me more determined to do that. All I want to do is improve my tennis, that fire is back."

There were plenty of similarities in the back stories of these players, both fiercely intelligent, trilingual and forged from a kaleidoscope of nations and influences.

Sun was born in New Zealand to a Chinese mother and Croatian father, and was raised in Switzerland from the age of five. Raducanu was born in Canada, also to a Chinese mother, and a Romanian father, and moved to Britain as a toddler.

Sun, the world No.123, is actually ranked 12 places higher than her rival, whose position has slipped after so long off the court through the injuries that followed her Flushing Meadows heroics.

However, any fear she'd freeze in the Centre Court stage were soon dispelled as Raducanu struggled with her range and rhythm and the Kiwi took instant advantage. If the girl born in a town with 'more sheep than people' was bothered by a partisan 15,000 crowd, it didn't show. There was no awe, only shock.

"I obviously had to fight tooth and nail to beat her as she's going to run for every ball,” said Sun, who will play unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic in the last eight. “I don't even have the words now.”

Raducanu had arrived at the All England Club managing expectations, insisting she'd be happy just to win one match.

An appearance in the fourth round eclipses that target but she will privately view this as a missed chance. With the Sunday night defeat of number two seed Coco Gauff by fellow American Emma Navarro, she'd have been the only Slam champion in the bottom half of the draw.

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