While tennis coverage mostly looks at the action on the court, who’s backhand is the strongest, who’s been able to mentally and physically align themselves to tackle not only the difficult scoring format of the game, but an entire tournament, and who’s looking like they’re heading towards the top of the rankings. However, every now and then it’s always nice to get a bit of juicy sports gossip, because in the world of competitive sport, it is only expected that there should be a little drama behind the scenes, as seems to be the case right now with Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray’s brother, and tennis star in his own right, Jamie Murray.

After this year’s Wimbledon, Jamie Murray took it upon himself to speak up on behalf of all British tennis, making a very random and somewhat disconnected series of statements regarding World No. 45 Emma Raducanu and 4th seed (now 5th) Jack Draper. Besides the both of these players being British, they really have nothing else in common, so Jamie Murray choosing to speak about them in parallel is interesting.

About Raducanu being World. No 45, Murray said, “That’s miles away from being at the level that Jack is at. Of course, she had an unbelievable result at the US Open. But she obviously needs to win a lot more matches to be talked about as a contender for these tournaments.” He wasn’t too harsh however, commending her potential and her performance, a little.

“I would say the third round is a good result, all things considered. She had a competitive match with Sabalenka. Hopefully, she goes and has a good summer in America.” Murray went on to say, adding, “But it’s not like Jack – he was number four in the world. He’s putting results together all the time, he’s proven that he’s world-class and a top player.” However, considering there were a couple other British tennis players in Wimbledon this year such as Cameron Norrie, Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage and Dan Evans, it was slightly startling that Jamie Murray chose to focus on Raducanu, however, there may have been an ulterior motive.

Possible reason behind Jamie Murray finding fault with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon over other British players

They say blood runs thicker than water, and this might in fact be the case in this situation. Many might remember that last year was Andy Murray’s very last Wimbledon run, and few may be aware that he was due to play in the mixed doubled tournament with Raducanu as a partner, however, the latter pulled out last minute on account of a wrist injury, forcing Murray to give up on this last shot as well. Ouch, that probably hurt way more than the wrist!

Though Raducanu has since stated that things are alright between her and Andy Murray, saying, “I sent him a long message, and he took it really well and responded saying he was disappointed but he understood.” Raducanu has also shared instances of joviality between the two, saying that Murray congratulated her on a win after the incident. However, it’s bound to still be a sore spot for Murray who would’ve been looking forward to that last Wimbledon run as one would imagine any tennis great might.

Though Murray is doing fine now and onto the next leg of his journey post retirement, maybe Jamie Murray is still fighting the age old family fight on his brother’s behalf. Maybe, just maybe he is of the opinion that Jannik Sinner won the entire tournament with an injured arm, why did a injured wrist stop Emma Raducanu from a mixed doubles series? Or maybe it’s all just a coincidence. Who’s to say, but there’s nothing like a juicy bit of gossip.