Emma Raducanu has turned down a wildcard to play in the Paris Olympics. But double champion Andy Murray will play in the singles on an invite – and wants to play doubles with Dan Evans – in his fifth and final Games.
In a press conference at Queen’s Club today, LTA head of women’s tennis Ian Bates announced Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Andy Murray. Katie Boulter will play in the women’s singles while Joe Salisbury & Neal Skupski will team up in the doubles.
But 2021 US Open champion Raducanu, who was eligible to play as a past Grand Slam champion, has decided not to play. She also did not enter qualifying for the French Open last month and the Olympics will be held at Roland Garros.
Bates said: “We were notified on Thursday that Emma would be eligible for one of those places and I’ve had various conversations with Emma over last couple of weeks and really clear to me how much being part of a British team would mean to her.
“We saw how much it meant when she represented team in April at Billie Jean but also feel it is not the right timing for her. A lot of that is late notice for spot, also surface change from grass, clay and hard.
“Everyone is aware of her history and that places greater stress on her. Also an element of where her ranking is, getting into US potentially.”
Asked if he was disappointed by Raducanu’s decision, Bates added: “I’m extremely happy she’s on court. Some of tennis her and Katie played last night was extremely high level.
“You always want bigger team in Olympics because such a cool event, but you expect she is 21 and hopefully she has many Olympics in her. From an Olympic team side or head of women side, I’m very comfortable with decision she’s made.”
Team GB have also nominated Murray and Evans to play together in the men’s doubles but will have to wait for a decision from the ITF on June 24. “We’re confident,” said Bates.
“It’s quite a challenging process to work through because we’re dealing with rules of competition, which differ from tour and unlike Davis Cup we have to go by ranking. The fact that Dan and Andy are both singles’ singles, gives them a better chance of getting into draw.”
