"What a joke"; "So happy Emma Raducanu's playing with her grandfather" - Fans divided over Andy Murray's mixed doubles wildcard entry at Wimbledon

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu teaming up to make a home-favorite team for the two-time champion's final Wimbledon campaign has sparked discussions among fans. Murray will also be competing in the gentlemen's doubles alongside his brother Jamie whereas Raducanu is currently competing in the ladies' singles.

The former World No. 1 recently had surgery on a spinal cyst which caused a cloud of doubt to form over his participation in Wimbledon. Despite his best efforts, he failed to participate in the gentlemen's singles, however, he was given a wildcard to participate in doubles alongside his brother Jamie. They will take on John Peers and Rinky Hijikata in the opening round.

It was announced that Andy Murray will team up with his compatriot Emma Raducanu to play mixed doubles at Wimbledon. The 2021 US Open champion has won her opening two rounds in singles.

Fans came up with polarizing views of this news. One of the fans called Murray receiving a mixed doubles wildcard a joke.

"What a joke."

Another fan joked how Raducanu was playing with her grandfather alluding to their age difference. While she is 21, Murray is 37.

"so happy shes playing with her grandfather.”

Here are some other reactions from tennis fans:

"If Murray can serve well they might have a chance. Usually mixed doesnt get much attention, but this round 1 could be on Centre Court!" a fan opined.

"Great news because it will annoy the ghastly ER haters even more," a fan mentioned.

"After he withdrew from singles, he should not have been given any further WC for W2024," another fan opined.

Here are some other reactions from the fans. Some were mainly concerned about the scheduling issues.

"And RG did not give wild card to Thiem 😒." a fan said.

"When does that start 2025?" a fan questioned.

"Awesome! Given the forecast and Wimbledon's slow reaction to everything, I will put them on my calendar for three weeks from now," a fan joked.

"Emma Raducanu will be really good" - Andy Murray confident in compatriot's potential to adapt to doubles

Andy Murray

After his practice on Wednesday, Andy Murray talked highly about Emma Raducanu's drive to play in front of crowds and knew she could handle the pressure.

“She’s obviously unbelievably competitive and likes playing in the big stadiums and stuff with crowds so I expect she’ll deal with that really well,” Murray said.

Murray also explained how skills from singles were useful in doubles. And though there were different aspects in both formats, he was confident in Raducanu's caliber to do well in doubles.

“A lot of the skills from singles translate well to doubles. There’s a few things that are obviously a little bit different, particularly when you play against doubles players who are doing a lot of crossing, a lot of movement at the net, that’s something that takes a little time to get used to."

“But she’s a brilliant returner and great ball striker so I’d imagine she’ll deal with returning guys’ serves well. And, when she’s getting into exchanges at the back of the court, she’ll be really good.”

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu will take on Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai in the opening round.