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Queen's Birthday Honours: Judy Murray and Heather Stanning become OBEs

  • Posted: Jun 16, 2017

Judy Murray and two-time Olympic gold medallist Heather Stanning have been appointed OBEs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Murray, who has worked to grow tennis across Great Britain, has been recognised for services to tennis, women in sport and charity.

Stanning, who retired in 2016, is recognised for services to rowing.

Ireland rugby union captain Rory Best and former England coach Dick Greenwood will also become OBEs.

Northern Ireland football captain Steven Davis, former Great Britain rugby league coach Brian Noble and boxer John Conteh are appointed MBEs.

  • 5 live In Short: Judy Murray on encouraging the development of women’s sport

Murray ‘determined to inspire’

Murray, 57, is the third member of her family to be honoured after her sons Andy and Jamie became a knight and an OBE respectively.

She was the Great Britain Fed Cup coach from 2011 to 2016 and has coached numerous players, as well as mentoring Davis Cup captain Leon Smith.

“I’ve seen first hand that your role models are important – that they inspire and excite – but sport is only as good as its grassroots,” she told BBC Sport.

“I was so determined that there would be a legacy from what Jamie and Andy had achieved and I felt I could have much more long-term effect by sharing everything I’ve learnt over my coaching career with as many people as I could.”

The Scot has worked to introduce more young women to tennis, setting up the Miss-Hits programme in 2014 and heading up the Lawn Tennis Association’s She Rallies initiative.

She also fronts the Tennis on the Road programme, which brings the sport to deprived areas in Scotland.

Stanning and her rowing partner Helen Glover became GB’s first female rowers to win back-to-back Olympic golds when they retained the coxless pairs title in Rio after their London 2012 triumph.

She ended her career having not lost a single race alongside Glover since they teamed up at the 2011 World Championships.

Ireland hooker Best, who has made 104 international appearances, also led his country to their first ever win over New Zealand in November.

“It’s not just a reflection of my rugby ability. There are better players than me, but it’s also hopefully a reflection of the person you are,” Best said.

“It would be humbling to think that you can be considered more than just being able to play rugby.”

Team GB swimming coach Bill Furniss and England Hockey chair Philip Kimberley have also been appointed OBEs, with the head of Sport England, Jennie Price, becoming a CBE.

Great Britain’s women won a first Olympic hockey gold in Rio in 2016, while Team GB’s swimmers ended the pool events with their best haul of six medals.

All the sporting honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE):

Jennie Price, for services to sport, especially increasing women and girls’ participation.

Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE):

Judy Murray, for services to tennis, women in sport and charity; Heather Stanning, MBE, for services to rowing; Rory Best, for services to national and international rugby; Bill Furniss, for services to swimming; Dick Greenwood, for services to national and international rugby; Philip Kimberley, for services to hockey; Laura Smith, for services to disability sport.

Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE):

John Conteh, for services to boxing; Scott Hann, for services to gymnastics; Brian Noble, for services to rugby league and charity; Steven Davis, for services to football; Michelle Adams, for services to girls’ and women’s football in Wales; Andy Banks, for services to diving; Terry Flanagan, for services to rugby league and charity in the north west; Natalie Gilmour, for services to women’s rugby league; Daniel Kerry, for services to women’s hockey; Diane Lampard, for services to equestrianism; Angela Malone, for services to wheelchair curling; Peter Nicol, for services to the Highland Games, the economy and voluntary service in the north of Scotland; Jonathan Rea, for services to motorcycle racing; Dr Alan Stanfield, for services to curling.

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Murray/Soares Battle Into Stuttgart Final

  • Posted: Jun 16, 2017

Murray/Soares Battle Into Stuttgart Final

Jun162017

Klaasen/Ram prevail in ‘s-Hertogenbosch

Second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares came out on top in another tight match on Friday at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, reaching the final with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-6 victory over Marcin Matkowski and Max Mirnyi. 

Murray/Soares needed 11 match points to prevail in their quarter-final on Wednesday against Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic, but only needed three in the Match Tie-break against Matkowski/Mirnyi to advance in 77 minutes.

Awaiting them in the final will be top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan or fourth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. Murray/Soares are 1-1 in ATP World Tour doubles finals in 2017, prevailing in Acapulco (d. Isner/Lopez) and finishing runner-up in Sydney (l. Koolhof/Middelkoop).

You May Also Like: Zverev, Cilic Advance To 's-Hertogenbosch SFs

At the Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, second seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram secured the lone break in the last game of their semi-final match against Aussies John Peers and Jordan Thompson to advance 7-6(4), 7-5. Klaasen/Ram have already lifted winner’s trophies this year in Delray Beach (d. Huey/Mirnyi) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells (d. Kubot/Melo).

They’ll play Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in a rematch of their Indian Wells final after the top seeds defeated Andre Sa and recent Roland Garros doubles champion Michael Venus 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-5. Kubot/Melo have excelled at Masters 1000 events this year, winning in Madrid (d. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin) and Miami (d. Monroe/Sock).  

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I may only have a couple of years left at the top – Murray

  • Posted: Jun 16, 2017

World number one Andy Murray says he may only have “a couple of years” left at the top of tennis but insists he will “make the most of every tournament”.

Now 30 years old, Murray will be aiming to win Wimbledon for the third time and equal Fred Perry’s record when the tournament starts next month.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Sport, the Briton discussed being the world’s top player, his love of Wimbledon, “making mistakes” and life after retirement.

  • Murray ‘proud’ despite semi-final defeat
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Retirement

The Scot, who was knighted in the New Year Honours, turned 30 in May and all of the top five players on the men’s tour are in their 30s. Spaniard Rafael Nadal is 31, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland is 32, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is 30 and Swiss Roger Federer 35.

But Murray said that despite players continuing to compete at the highest level into their 30s he accepts that he may not have long left at the top.

“My coach, Ivan Lendl, was still competitive at the top until he was about 32 but, generally, over the past 20 to 30 years, normally by early 30s is when players have struggled to stay at the top.

“I know some of the players have been doing really well until their mid-30s recently, but that might not be the case with me. Maybe the next couple of years are the last few where I have a chance to compete for the majors and the biggest tournaments.

“Most of the players are travelling with physios now, spending a lot more time working in the gym to protect their bodies from the kind of pounding you give it on the court as well. I think some of that explains it.

“I don’t know how long I’m going to be playing for any more. I want to make the most of every tournament I compete in. If I’m going to be away from my family, I’m not going to do that and not do my best, be totally professional and take every tournament as seriously as I can.

“I’ll continue to play and so long as my body is fine. I would like to hope that I would continue to do that whilst I’m still enjoying it.

“I enjoy being away from the court. I have a family now – I have more interests away from the court than I did in my early 20s or mid 20s – so obviously it will be sad to stop. But I think I’ll be all right.”

Wimbledon chances

Wimbledon, which Murray won in 2013 and 2016, begins on 3 July and the defending champion says expectations will be high that he can repeat his previous successes.

“For me, it is obviously always going to be the biggest tournament during the year,” said Murray, who begins his grass-court season at next week’s Aegon Championships at Queen’s.

“A lot of pressure comes with it as well. There’s a lot of expectation during this period, so it can be a bit stressful – but I’m able to get away from that as well because I’m at home, I’m sleeping in my own bed and I have all my family around me.

“I’m older and more experienced in dealing with it. The pressure and stress that goes with it maybe doesn’t affect me quite as much when I was younger.

On the possibility of equalling fellow Briton Perry’s Wimbledon record of three wins, he added: “It would be amazing, I never expected to win it once, never mind twice. It had been such a long time since any British man had won that.

“I’ll give it my best shot for sure. I’ll prepare as best I can and if I play well then I definitely have a chance of winning.”

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Being world number one

Since becoming world number one in November last year he has struggled with injuries and for form. So has the pressure of being top of the rankings taken its toll?

“It hasn’t for me,” he said.

“I mean, I’ve been asked that question lots over the past few months. I didn’t play particularly well from February through to the French Open, but at the French [where he was knocked out in the semi-finals by Wawrinka] I felt I played quite well.

“It [the world ranking] isn’t something I think about when I’m on the court or when I’m preparing for matches.

“Obviously when you get asked about it, you spend a little bit of time thinking: ‘Maybe, could it be because of that?’ But I really don’t think it has been the reason why I struggled for a few months – but everyone will have their own opinion on that.

“It’s been a frustrating few months because I picked up a couple of injuries, including one to my elbow, and a couple of illnesses.

“I was still pretty nervous going into the French because I’d hardly won any matches for a while, but with each match that I got through, I started to build confidence, started to play a little bit better and was very close to reaching the final by the end.

“Form can turn around very quickly providing you’re mentally in the right place and you’re doing the right things and training. And I feel I’m in a good place now to go on a good run during the grass.”

Security

After reaching the quarter-finals at the French Open, Murray paid tribute to the victims of the recent attacks in Manchester and London.

Wimbledon organisers are preparing for the biggest security operation in the Championships’ 140-year history, and Murray admits safety is now a concern.

“I do think about it – when you’re playing in front of huge crowds, or you’re in walking around the grounds and there’s huge, huge amounts of people.

“But we do also see the security that goes into sporting events now and it’s been fine throughout my career -but it is something that is a concern from time to time.”

Life after tennis

Murray is already starting to think about what to do when he steps away from the court and advising young players, possibly in a sports management capacity, is something he is considering.

“I wish I’d enjoyed my career more when I was younger. I enjoy it a lot more now than I did when I was 19, 20, 21,” added the three-time Grand Slam champion.

“I certainly wasn’t prepared for the attention that came with becoming a professional athlete or a top tennis player.

“I didn’t feel ready for that. I really struggled with the attention that came with that, and I think throughout my career I’ve made lots of mistakes – maybe some that could have been avoided.

“That’s something I would like to pass on to young British athletes, how to avoid [mistakes] because so many athletes go through the same thing.

“It’s about surrounding yourself with people who have been down that road before, people who can give you the best advice possible.”

2017 Aegon Championships
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 19-25 June
Coverage: Comprehensive live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two, Red Button, Connected TV and online daily

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Lopez Edges Berdych In Big-Serving Stuttgart Duel

  • Posted: Jun 16, 2017

Lopez Edges Berdych In Big-Serving Stuttgart Duel

Jun162017

Fourth seed Pouille takes on Kohlschreiber later today

Feliciano Lopez is one match away from reaching his fourth grass-court final – and his first in three years. He will next challenge sixth seed Mischa Zverev or Tommy Haas on Saturday at the Mercedes Cup.

The Spaniard battled hard to beat third-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes on Friday for a place in the Stuttgart semi-finals.

Berdych could not convert two set-point chances at 6-5, 15/40 on Lopez’s serve in the first set, but seized early control of the tie-break in a big-serving encounter. Serve-volleyer Lopez broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set, then in the seventh game of the decider to improve to a 12-12 match record in 2017. Berdych hit 21 aces, but Lopez struck 19 aces and importantly saved all nine break points he faced.

Lopez has won two grass-court titles at the Aegon International in 2013 (d. Simon) and 2014 (d. Gasquet). He also finished runner-up at the 2014 Aegon Championships (l. to Dimitrov).

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Britain's Konta cruises into Nottingham Open semi-finals

  • Posted: Jun 16, 2017

British number one Johanna Konta reached the Nottingham Open semi-finals for the first time with a straight-sets win over Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.

The world number eight, 26, won 6-3 7-5 after converting her fourth match point against the 21-year-old.

Konta lost her serve midway through the second set before fighting back to claim four of the final five games.

“It was difficult, she started very strongly. I had to raise my game and only had one little dip,” said Konta.

  • Live scores and schedule

Konta, whose three career titles have all come on hard courts, is two more wins away from earning her first WTA title on home soil.

She will face either Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova or American Kristie Ahn – both ranked outside the world’s top 100 – in Saturday’s semi-finals.

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Meanwhile, British number three Naomi Broady has reached the semi-finals of the Aegon Trophy in Manchester after beating top seed Chang Kai-Chen.

The 27-year-old from Stockport, who is ranked 115th in the world, won 6-3 6-4 against the Taiwanese world number 109.

Bedene’s run comes to an end

British men’s number four Aljaz Bedene’s run at the Ricoh Open ended with a quarter-final defeat by Luxembourg’s fourth seed Gilles Muller.

Bedene, 27, was a break up in the deciding set but lost five of the final six games in a 6-3 3-6 6-4 defeat.

Reaching the last eight is still an encouraging start to the grass court season for the Slovenian-born player ahead of next month’s Wimbledon.

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