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'I won't rule anything out' – Murray says he could miss Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018

Andy Murray says he could play Eastbourne and then skip Wimbledon as he assesses the best way to continue his comeback after a year out with a hip injury.

The Briton, 31, showed some encouraging signs before losing to Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s in his first match back.

Wimbledon, which Murray has won twice, starts on 2 July, with a warm-up event in Eastbourne next week.

“I need to wait and see what happens,” said the former world number one.

“I don’t know exactly what’s best for me just now.”

I wouldn’t rule out playing Eastbourne and not playing Wimbledon

Andy Murray

Scot Murray will see how his body feels after playing for over two and a half hours against world number 21 Kyrgios.

He had not played competitively since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to American Sam Querrey last July.

Murray, who has dropped to 156th in the world rankings, had surgery on his right hip in January.

“I won’t rule anything out just now,” he said about his upcoming plans. “I wouldn’t rule out playing Eastbourne and not playing Wimbledon.

“I wouldn’t rule out playing a tournament next and trying to get matches in an exhibition tournament as well to get ready for Wimbledon.

“If I wake up on Wednesday morning and I really don’t feel good then that’s obviously not a great sign.”

Murray showed glimpses of his ability against Kyrgios at the Fever-Tree Championships, before starting to tire as the match wore on.

The two-time Wimbledon champion won the first set before Kyrgios fought back for a 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 win.

“I thought I did OK,” said Murray. “I thought my level at times was good, sometimes not so good.

“I’m happy I got out there and competed and performed respectably.”

Murray has a good chance of going deep into the Wimbledon draw if he does play, according to Kyrgios.

“If he is feeling good then I don’t see any reason why not,” he said.

“There is only a handful of guys who can really play on grass. He’s got a good chance.”

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Queen's Club 2018: Kyle Edmund beats Ryan Harrison at Queen's

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018
2018 Fever-Tree Championships on the BBC
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 18-24 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app.

Britain’s number one Kyle Edmund beat American Ryan Harrison 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in the first round of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club.

Edmund is the only Briton to reach the second round following defeats for Andy Murray and Dan Evans on Tuesday.

Edmund will face Nick Kyrgios next after the Australian beat Murray.

France’s Adrian Mannarino won 6-4 0-6 7-5 in Evans’ first ATP Tour level match since he served a 12-month ban for taking cocaine.

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts,” said Edmund.

“There was probably a bit of nerves playing my first match on grass this year and in front of my home fans.”

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Djokovic starts impressively on grass

Novak Djokovic marked his first appearance at Queen’s since 2010 with a comfortable opening win over Australian qualifier John Millman.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion, 31, eased to a 6-2 6-1 victory.

Immediately after his shock French Open quarter-final exit against Italian Marco Cecchinato this month, Djokovic claimed he might sit out the grass-court season.

Over the past year he has dropped outside of the world’s top 20 after struggling with an elbow injury which needed a minor operation in January.

But the three-time Wimbledon champion accepted a wildcard at Queen’s as part of his preparations for Wimbledon and looked in good form against world number 63 Millman.

“It’s not the first nor the last match that I lost in my life. I know how to deal with these particular situations,” Djokovic said when asked how he handled the French Open setback.

“I had to take some time off the court – recharge the batteries physically and mentally.”

The Serb will face second seed Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16 after the Bulgarian won 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.

Anderson & Goffin out, Raonic injured

South African third seed Kevin Anderson lost in three sets to unseeded Argentine Leonardo Mayer, while former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic led 6-1 3-1 when opponent Yuki Bhambri retired.

Raonic, however, was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a shoulder injury.

French qualifier Julien Benneteau claimed a surprise 7-5 3-6 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, although Berdych was later forced to pull out of the doubles with a back injury.

Defending champion Feliciano Lopez beat fourth seed David Goffin 6-3 6-7 6-3.

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Defending Champ Lopez Ousts Goffin At Queen's Club

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018

Defending Champ Lopez Ousts Goffin At Queen’s Club

Mayer defeats 2015 finalist Anderson in final-set tie-break

Defending champion Feliciano Lopez got his Fever-Tree Championships title defence off to the best of starts, beating fourth seed David Goffin 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3 on Tuesday.

The Spanish left-hander defeated Goffin for the first time in four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, winning 88 per cent of first-serve points and converting each of his three break point chances throughout the one-hour, 49-minute encounter.

Lopez improves to 21-11 at The Queen’s Club and 3-1 on grass this year, after reaching the MercedesCup quarter-finals (l. to Kyrgios) last week. The 31-year-old has won 66 per cent of his grass-court matches, according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record, his best statistic on any surface. Lopez also advanced to the quarter-finals after Canada’s Milos Raonic withdrew from the tournament after his first-round win.

Former finalist Raonic was leading 6-1, 3-1, when his Indian opponent, Yuki Bhambri, a qualifier, retired due to injury after 45 minutes. Raonic, the 2016 runner-up (l. to Murray), later in the day withdrew from the tournament with a right shoulder injury, a major personal disappointment following a final run at last week’s MercedesCup (l. to Federer).

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“Unfortunately I have sustained a strain to my right pectoral muscle,” shared Raonic. “This happened on the second to last point of the match, and as a result I am not able to continue with the tournament. I’m really disappointed as I was playing well and I love this tournament – I have happy memories from reaching the final in 2016 and hoped to do so again. I wish the tournament another successful event, and I hope to be back in top shape and health for Wimbledon.”

Leonardo Mayer scored his second career Top 10 win, edging third seeded Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(3).

Mayer, now 2-29 against Top 10 opposition, withstood 26 aces from the 2015 finalist to snap a three-match losing streak after two hours and 24 minutes. The Argentine, making just his second appearance at The Queen’s Club, reduces his FedEx ATP Head2Head series deficit against Anderson to 2-4. Mayer’s only previous win against a Top 10 player came against David Ferrer at the 2014 German Tennis Championships presented by Kampmann.

“Anderson is a player who has a great serve… Today I could not break him but I made some small differences in both tie-breaks,” said Mayer.

“It’s very nice for me to beat a [Top 10] player like him… it’s been a long time since I won against a top player. Today I played really well.”

Mayer will face #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe for a quarter-final spot. Tiafoe defeated countryman Jared Donaldson in straight sets on Monday.

Kontinen/Peers Comfortably Through To QF
Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers made a successful return to London at the Fever-Tree Championships, defeating Canadian duo Daniel Nestor and Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-5.

The second seeds won 85 per cent of serve points (41/48) to advance after 56 minutes. Kontinen and Peers will meet Mike Bryan and Jack Sock for a semi-final spot.

The American duo came from a set down before dominating a Match Tie-break to beat Santiago Gonzalez and Sam Querrey 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-2. Bryan and Sock won 50 per cent of return points in the 72-minute clash.

Did You Know?
Since March’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Milos Raonic has compiled a 15-4 record on the ATP World Tour.

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Murray makes encouraging return but loses to Kyrgios

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018
2018 Fever-Tree Championships on the BBC
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 18-24 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app.

Andy Murray’s comeback after almost a year out with a hip injury ended in a narrow defeat by Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s.

The 31-year-old Briton lost 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 5-7 against the Australian world number 21.

Murray was playing his first competitive match since losing at Wimbledon last year.

He tested Kyrgios in an encouraging performance, saving two match points before losing.

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Former world number one Murray insisted he was not focusing on winning against 23-year-old Kyrgios, but was solely interested in the way his body would cope with the rigours of playing an ATP tour match.

Yet he looked on course for a win that few gave him hope of achieving after so long out of the game.

True, Kyrgios – a mercurial and unpredictable player – was not fully focused in an erratic first set, eventually switching on mentally to fight back against his good friend and win in two hours and 39 minutes.

Neither Kyrgios’ display, nor the result, should take anything away from Murray’s performance.

Although there were periods where Murray looked understandably rusty, all the facets of the three-time Grand Slam champion’s game – accurate serving, shot-making, dogged defence, court coverage and will-to-win – were seen at times in front of a packed home crowd in London.

Understandably, he faded in the decider – his shot selection letting him down in the final game as a double fault allowed Kyrgios to take his third match point.

“It was great to see him back and see him healthy,” said Kyrgios, who beat Murray for the first time at the sixth attempt.

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Murray proves he is fit enough to compete

Murray’s road back to the court has been a long one – 342 days to be precise – and one which he admits left him “very concerned” about his recovery.

Limping heavily at Wimbledon last year, it was remarkable he managed to reach the last eight before losing in five sets against American Sam Querrey – the last time we saw him on a match court until his return at Queen’s on Tuesday.

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“I was in a bad place,” he said this week. “I could barely walk.”

Rest and recuperation was tried in a bid to manage the problem before he decided to have surgery in January.

The Scot says he is not pain-free and does not expect his hip to be perfect.

Despite that, he believes he can still be more competitive than he was a year ago – and so it proved against Kyrgios.

He showed few signs of restricted or troubled movement against Kyrgios, scampering regularly across the baseline and sprinting forwards to the net.

However, there were worrying signs at the start of the third – Murray holding his lower back and then starting to limp heavily.

Still he dug deep, showing he has not lost any of his fighting spirit, nor any of his will-to-win, before Kyrgios came through to win.

‘Extraordinary performance’ – analysis

Former Great Britain Davis Cup captain John Lloyd on BBC Two: “The expectations are going to rise on Andy Murray after this performance. He still has a bit of work to do but for a first match back it was remarkable.

“The first set looked like a normal first set. He made a few errors and in the third he played well. It was an extraordinary performance considering he has been out for nearly a year.”

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