| 2018 Nature Valley International on the BBC |
| Venue: Devonshire Park, Eastbourne Dates: 24-30 June |
| Coverage: Watch the women’s tournament live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app. |
Andy Murray was beaten in straight sets by Kyle Edmund at Eastbourne as the three-time Grand Slam champion bids to prove his fitness for Wimbledon.
Murray lost 6-4 6-4 to his replacement as British number one in the Nature Valley International second round.
Edmund’s power was too much for Murray, who was playing only his third match since returning from hip surgery.
He is joined in the quarter-finals by Cameron Norrie, who beat fellow Briton Jay Clarke 6-4 6-3.
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Wimbledon starts on Monday and Murray has still not decided whether he will play in the grass-court Grand Slam, which he won in 2013 and 2016.
The 31-year-old Scot only made his return – after a 11-month absence – at Queen’s last week, earning the first win of his comeback against fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka on Monday.
The Wimbledon draw takes place on Friday.
Edmund faces Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarter-finals after the Kazakh world number 90 stunned sixth seed David Ferrer 6-2 6-0.
Norrie, meanwhile, will play Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko in the last eight after the world number 94 upset top seed Diego Schwartzman 4-6 6-4 7-5.
The past is Murray’s – but is the future Edmund’s?
During Murray’s absence, Edmund has climbed into the world’s top 20 for the first time in his career, allowing him to become the British number one.
The 23-year-old Yorkshireman was mentored by Murray in his younger years, with the pair remaining good friends and even practising together in Eastbourne this week.
The match between him and a player now ranked 156th in the world was played in a convivial atmosphere, where support was split between the two players.
This was business for them, however.
Edmund had not beaten his illustrious opponent in their two previous meetings and looked jittery as he closed in on a significant victory.
After going a double break up in the second set, he served for the match at 5-2 but lost the game to love as Murray rallied.
However, he regained his composure at the next attempt, starting the final game with an ace and finishing with a backhand down the line, to win in one hour and 40 minutes.
Edmund is the first British player to beat Murray since Tim Henman in 2006.
Murray looking like his old self
After losing to Nick Kyrgios in his comeback match at Queen’s, Murray had a week off the court – in terms of competitive action, at least – before an impressive victory on Monday against Wawrinka, a player also on the comeback trail after a long-term knee injury.
So this was the next stage of the recovery process for Murray: seeing how his body coped with two matches in three days.
His movement looked sharp enough in the opening set, although even that could not prevent Edmund’s powerful groundstrokes from getting past him.
Edmund broke in the first game, saving four break points himself in the second and missing another, before serving out the first set with a hefty service winner down the middle.
Murray, understandably, looked to be fading as the match headed deep into the second hour on another hot afternoon on the East Sussex coast.
However, he proved again his competitive streak will never diminish.
There was the familiar sight of Murray shouting at himself after an error, and roars of “come on” and “let’s go” when he saved break points in the second set.
And dumping on his racquet on the grass when he coughed up a double fault, giving Edmund the crucial break, further showed he is desperate to win as well as build up his fitness.
