Murray-Raducanu doubleheader opens play Friday at Indian Wells

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – It might be first thing in the morning in the California desert. And the stands might be pretty empty.

But before fans go criticizing the scheduling again … there’s a good reason for it.

Back home in the U.K., the Andy Murray-Emma Raducanu doubleheader at the BNP Paribas Open Friday is … prime time.

Murray will take the court against qualifier Taro Daniel at 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. back home.

And then, Emma Raducanu, the No. 11 seed, faces a tough task in former top-10 player Caroline Garcia of France.

It’s Raducanu’s second visit to Indian Wells, after she went out in her opening match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich last October.

It was just a few weeks after her star-making triumph at the US Open. So it was a lot to ask to try to rev it back up.

This season has been a challenge, as Raducanu has had some issues staying healthy.

The first to be announced for the women’s match that was part of the Abu Dhabi six-man exhibition, Raducanu ended up having to withdraw as she tested positive for COVID.

She won just one game in her first-round match in Sydney against Elena Rybakina, her only match before the first Grand Slam of the season.

At the Australian Open, the victim of a nasty blister, she ended up having to hit nothing but slice forehands in the second round against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro. And she almost pulled it off, falling in three sets.

She didn’t play again until Guadalajara a few weeks ago. But the No. 1 seed had what appeared to be a hip issue and – three hours in – had to retire against Daria Saville in her opening match.

Raducanu then pulled out of Monterrey.

So the tennis has been very scarce so far this season.

On the practice court

Team Raducanu is a fairly big affair these days. And she had a lot of fans watching as she practiced Thursday.

(Pics above)

The previous day, there was an even bigger crowd waiting to see her.

So was planned practice partner Veronika Kudermetova. Except Raducanu never made it.

One of the security officials told the crowd, about 20 minutes into a scheduled 5 p.m. session, that she was on her way. But it never happened.

According to Team Kudermetova, eventually Raducanu’s coach got in touch and explained that his player had an “activity” that was running late.

There’s a lot to navigate when you make that big a splash.

Murray a big draw

With Rafael Nadal mostly practicing inside the big stadium the first few days this week (before the main draw matches began), there weren’t many marquee attractions on the practice courts.

But Murray was one of them. And he looked in pretty good form.