Tennis-Raducanu Withdraws from Wimbledon Mixed Doubles, Ending Murray's Farewell

Jul 5, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Emma Raducanu of Great Britain returns a shot during her match against Maria Sakkara of Greece (not shown) on day five of The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports Purchase Licensing Rights
Jul 5, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Emma Raducanu of Great Britain returns a shot during her match against Maria Sakkara of Greece (not shown) on day five of The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports Purchase Licensing Rights
TT

Tennis-Raducanu Withdraws from Wimbledon Mixed Doubles, Ending Murray's Farewell

Jul 5, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Emma Raducanu of Great Britain returns a shot during her match against Maria Sakkara of Greece (not shown) on day five of The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports Purchase Licensing Rights
Jul 5, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Emma Raducanu of Great Britain returns a shot during her match against Maria Sakkara of Greece (not shown) on day five of The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports Purchase Licensing Rights

Emma Raducanu withdrew from the Wimbledon mixed doubles on Saturday due to stiffness in her wrist, with the withdrawal ensuring partner Andy Murray will not get another chance to feature on court in his farewell at the Grand Slam, Reuters reported.

Raducanu and Murray were set to play Zhang Shuai and Marcelo Arevalo later on Court One.

"Unfortunately I woke up with some stiffness in my right wrist," Raducanu, who is into the singles fourth round, said via the Lawn Tennis Association's social media account.

"So therefore I have decided to make the very tough decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles tonight. I'm disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care."

British great Murray, 37, received an emotional farewell after he and brother Jamie were beaten in the first round of the men's doubles on Thursday.



Zheng Routs Paolini to Advance to Semifinals at WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
TT

Zheng Routs Paolini to Advance to Semifinals at WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Zheng Qinwen cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals on Wednesday.
Zheng needed just over an hour to defeat Paolini in the match that decided the final qualifier from the Purple Group at the season-ending tournament for the top eight women's players, The Associated Press reported.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who had won her first two matches to clinch a semifinal spot, lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to No. 5 Elena Rybakina. It was Rybakina's first win of the round-robin phase.
It was Zheng's fourth win in as many matches against Paolini. The 22-year-old Chinese player had 12 aces and broke the Italian's serve five times.
“It's one of the best performances I had during this year,” Zheng said. “I'm really proud. I played in a really difficult group.”
Zheng is the youngest player to reach the semifinals in her first appearance at the WTA Finals since Petra Kvitova in 2011. It’s her seventh semifinal of the year and the first time she has beaten two top-10 opponents in the same tournament. She defeated Elena Rybakina on Monday.
Zheng has won 30 matches since Wimbledon, clinching the Olympic gold medal in Paris and winning titles in Palermo and Tokyo.
She could become the second player to win the singles gold medal and reach the WTA Finals championship match in the same season since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, after Serena Williams in 2012.
Paolini finished the season 38-19, having made the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Jessica Pegula withdrew from her last match at the tournament because of a left knee injury. The American, who lost her first two matches and was already eliminated from semifinal contention, will be replaced in the Orange Group by first alternate and ninth-ranked Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina will play second-ranked Iga Swiatek on Thursday.