Emma Raducanu expressed her relief at unexpectedly running into Andy Murray following her recent second-round victory at the Australian Open.
The young Brit found herself at the centre of a social media storm in July last year.
She made the difficult choice to withdraw from her and Murray’s much-anticipated mixed doubles match at Wimbledon.
Wishing to focus on the singles event, her withdrawal effectively marked the end of Murray’s Grand Slam career.
The situation drew even more attention when Judy Murray, Andy’s mother, took to social media, calling it ‘astonishing’.
Raducanu has now said she believes it’s all water under the bridge, having ‘smoothed things over’ with Murray.
“Whether or not I can go back and turn back time and do things differently, that’s in the past,” Raducanu said.
“All I can do is evaluate that and learn going forward.
“And I wanted to take the initiative because growing up he was one of my idols, and he still is with everything he’s achieved in the game, coming from the UK and the same system and everything.
“He’s someone I respect a lot, and I just didn’t want any negative tension in the air, more than anything, because I’m going to see him around.
“I just didn’t want that. It didn’t feel right, so I texted him and he replied, and it was like a really nice message. So I’m glad I did that and I just hope he doesn’t hate me too much.”
Raducanu withdrew from their doubles match after waking with stiffness in her right wrist before her fourth-round match against Lulu Sun, which she ultimately lost 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Judy later clarified that her response was sarcastic and placed the blame for Raducanu’s retirement on the tournament’s scheduling.
At the time, Raducanu poked fun at Judy’s comment. She commented on a post by US player Frances Tiafoe which caught the eye of many.
Tiafoe appeared to jokingly invite Raducanu to partner him in mixed doubles.
He commented: “Mixed….” followed by a series of shrugging and laughing emojis.
And Raducanu’s reply appeared to reference the Wimbledon rift, as she wrote back: “Astonishing,” followed by another laughing emoji.
Despite all the drama, Raducanu revealed when she bumped into Murray, who is also in Melbourne coaching Novak Djokovic, he seems to bear no grudge.
”I saw Andy today, and he said, ‘Well done,’ and congratulated me. That was really nice.
”He’s someone that I look up to a lot, so it’s good to have that pat on the back from him.
“It’s obviously really cool seeing him with Novak here as well. Two great champions, and they’re just together; it’s pretty awesome.”
Raducanu had faced disappointment in the second round during her last three appearances in Melbourne.
This time she overcame her serving struggles to triumph over good friend Anisimova, finally making it ‘fourth time lucky’.
Raducanu will now face world No.2 and five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek next.
Raducanu v Swiatek will be held on Saturday, January 18 while a court and start time will be confirmed soon.