Man who 'started' Judy Murray and Emma Raducanu fallout fesses up to how it really happened

The hysteria surrounding Judy Murray's tweet about Emma Raducanu hit boiling point over the weekend - and now the man who 'inadvertently' started has held up his hands.

Andy Murray's mother and coach had tweeted that it was 'astonishing' to see Raducanu pulling out of the Mixed Doubles at the last minute, thus ending the tennis legend's Wimbledon career in the process. It blew up, the backlash leading to an explanation from Judy that it was 'sarcastic' before temporarily locking her account.

In truth, Murray was responding to broadcaster Marcus Buckland, who had himself labelled it 'astonishing news.' Judy responded 'Yes, astonishing,' - seemingly intending the comment as a sarcastic dig at the man breaking the story.

Once the ball gets rolling, it's hard to stop it, and Raducanu had to field a number of questions before and after her singles defeat to Lulu Sun. She had said she was sure Murray 'didn't mean' her tweet to be mean-spirited.

And Buckland, whose initial tweet got the whole thing started, has now revealed how it spiralled out of control. He said on talkSPORT: "I inadvertently started this thing because on Saturday afternoon I was broadcasting and the news came through that she had pulled out. I tweeted ‘astonishing news’ and I was not passing judgement on whether Raducanu pulling out was the right decision or the wrong decision, it was just such a surprise a couple of days after she’d accepted the invitation.

“She was so excited about it and it did mean that Andy Murray had played his last ever match at Wimbledon – that’s why I used the word ‘astonishing’. Judy Murray then replied to my tweet and that created the maelstrom that has developed over the last couple of days.”

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