Judy Murray served up a volley of unflinching Raducanu home truths as she's called out for her 'snark'

The reaction of Judy Murray to Emma Raducanu's pullout for her mixed doubles with son Andy has been condemned by a leading columnist.

The mother of the man widely regarded as the greatest Scottish sportsperson of all time has been slammed for her "snark" and interfering like an overbearing mother in a playground spat. Murray was widely lampooned for her decision to reply to a tweet commenting on Raducanu's withdrawal with wrist stiffness by commenting 'yes, astonishing' – something she claimed the following day was sarcasm.

That didn't wash with the general public and now Murray has been served up a volley of home truths by writer Fionola Meredith. Meredith – writing her Belfast Telegraph column – wrote: "The Scottish tennis player Andy Murray is 37, married, with four children. He’s an adult, in other words. But from the way his mother, Judy Murray, reacted when young Emma Raducanu ditched him as her mixed doubles partner at Wimbledon, you’d think he was five years old, going on six. A little girl had been nasty to her big boy in the playground, and she was very cross indeed. How dare the wee madam deny her beloved princeling his final court appearance at Wimbledon?"

And Meredith believes Murray wedging herself into a developing story did little to help Raducanu - forthright about the pressures of following up her breakthrough US Open win – before her fourth round defeat to Lulu Sun.

She added: "Judy Murray subsequently claimed she was being sarcastic. Yet with that snarky little aside on social media, 24 hours before Raducanu’s big game, she ignited a huge row which ultimately ended with Raducanu losing the match to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun. Was the nastiness and recrimination a factor in her defeat? Who knows, but I’m