Andy Murray during a training session yesterday, as he looked a fierce competitor for today’s game
The Scottish star – who underwent spinal surgery just two weeks ago – pulled out of his singles campaign but was still set to play his final match in the mixed doubles with Raducanu
His wife Kim, his two eldest children, eight-year-old Sophia and six-year-old Edie, mother Judy and father William were among those in the crowd.
Murray was visibly emotional as he was shown a video including messages from the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on Centre Court after his loss earlier this week.
Fans gave Murray a standing ovation as the British star wiped tears from his eyes during his on-court interview with Barker.
A host of tennis greats were also present, such as Djokovic, Tim Henman, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova and Lleyton Hewitt.
Murray spoke candidly about his Wimbledon triumphs, his Olympic gold and his defeat by Roger Federer in the 2012 final in his conversation with Barker.
‘It’s always really difficult to speak after a loss, particularly after a Grand Slam final and being at Wimbledon,’ he said on the loss to Federer.
‘That’s the closest I had been and it was obviously difficult. It was quite an important moment in my career.
‘I’m not saying I’m the most outgoing or bubbly personality, but I think people probably saw how much I cared about the sport for the first time maybe.
Sue Barker came out of retirement to lead tributes to Murray, 37, after his doubles defeat
Murray’s wife Kim and two of their children, eight-year-old Sophia and six-year-old Edie, were in the crowd on Centre Court during his speech
Hundreds of fans gathered on Murray Mount to watch the tributes on Centre Court earlier this week
‘Obviously it was an important match and important moment in my career.’
A few weeks later, Murray avenged the heartbreaking defeat by Federer as he beat the Swiss maestro on the same court to win Olympic gold at London 2012.
‘Definitely to that point it was the biggest week of my life,’ he added.
‘To turn that around after losing in the final of Wimbledon and then to come here and play, it was one of my favourite days I’ve ever had, certainly as an athlete.
‘To play in a home Olympic Games at Wimbledon, to beat Roger for once in a big match was nice and then I had a great run in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson as well so yeah, it was an amazing week for me.’
Raducanu is due to play her fourth-round match against New Zealand’s Lulu Sun on Sunday, and at this stage there is no suggestion her wrist injury will rule her out of that match.
But Raducanu on Saturday afternoon decided to be cautious with a wrist on which she had surgery last year.
She was asked after her second-round win whether she had any hesitation in agreeing to play mixed doubles with Murray. ‘For me it was a no-brainer,’ she replied. ‘In my team, they were asking me, ‘Emma, are you sure you want to play? Just in case you’re still in the tournament’. I was like ‘No-brainer’.’
So there was clearly some uncertainty in her team about the prospect of her playing three days in a row, and Raducanu herself said after the Sakkari win: ‘The scheduling of (the mixed) was not ideal.’
That was a reference to the fact they had been placed fourth on No 1 Court and were facing an extremely late night – far from ideal preparation for one of the bigger matches of her life.
Murray had cut an emotional figure after his and Jamie’s straight sets defeat on Thursday
Centre Court paid tribute to the former World No 1 after the defeat by John Peers and Rinky Hijikata
Raducanu, meanwhile, said in a statement that she woke up with stiffness in her right wrist
That was widely seen as an attempt by the All England Club to make sure the match did not clash with England v Switzerland at Euro 2024.
Organisers at Wimbledon had previously said they would be ‘reactive’ when deciding the order of matches, admitting they had to ‘juggle’ ties with England games on television.
Speaking on Friday tournament organiser Jamie Baker said: ‘It’s not unusual. It’s happened quite often. Andy and Emma will be on tomorrow’s schedule definitely, but whether they get on depends on what happens today and what court depends on what happens tomorrow.
‘Obviously Emma is playing singles today so again, a bit will depend on what happens with that result.’
Pressed more specifically on whether plans are in place given the obvious TV interest on the BBC to give prominence to both England’s match and the Raducanu-Murray doubles, Baker accepted the fluidity of how long tennis matches run complicate things.
‘The things that we have to juggle is that with the football matches we know exactly what time they are but with tennis matches you don’t know exactly what time,’ he added.
‘You have to be a little bit reactive and we have a huge team of people who are very experienced so it’s bread and butter for them those things.’
But actually Wimbledon had little choice in positioning the match late, because one of the British pair’s opponents, El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo, had his first-round men’s doubles rained off on Friday and had to finish it this morning, so the schedule had to allow him sufficient time to rest between his two matches.
It surely means Murray’s final match at Wimbledon was his straight sets first round defeat with his brother Jamie in the men’s doubles on Thursday night, after which he took a look back at his career on court with Sue Barker.
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