Uncle Sam is ready to take US by storm

REPORTS ANDY MURRAY will play at Eastbourne next week as he steps up his Wimbledon build-up.

The former world No 1 has accepted a wild card into the main draw at the Nature Valley International in Sussex, which starts on Monday.

Murray, who had surgery in January for a hip injury that has sidelined him since Wimbledon last year, made his return to competitive tennis at the Fever-Tree Open at Queen’s Club this week, falling to Australian Nick Kyrgios in three sets.

After that match, his first in 342 days, Murray said he was not sure what his comeback programme would be – and hinted that he could even give Wimbledon a miss if he did not feel right.

But his decision to play at Eastbourne, made yesterday after an early morning practice session at the All England Club, appears to signal that the two times winner is aiming to be at Wimbledon when the Championships start a week on Monday.

“I’m looking forward getting some more time the grass courts at Eastbourne,” said Murray.

“I played Davis Cup there in 2006 and the courts and facilities there are excellent.

“It was good to get back to competition at Queen’s and I’m hoping to build on that next week.”

Murray could still also play in one of several exhibition events next week, either at London’s Hurlingham Club or at Boodles in Berkshire, if his participation at Eastbourne is once again cut short.

He has been practising for several weeks, but up until Queens had delayed his comeback saying he did not feel ready enough for competitive matches.

British No2 Dan Evans, denied a wild card by Wimbledon this week despite a good comeback following a year’s ban for testing positive for cocaine, continued his battle to qualify for the Championships yesterday.

He remarkably came through two matches of prequalifying in one day, to make it through to qualifying proper, to on SAM BURGESS believes England’s mid-season Test against New Zealand in Denver today can help establish rugby league stateside.

The South Sydney star and the rest of the Australia-based players in Wayne Bennett’s squad fought hard to make sure the game went ahead after huge opposition from NRL clubs.

They were reluctant to release their players.

Today’s showdown at the Mile High Stadium, home of the Denver Broncos, will see rugby league attempt to break into the North American market ahead of the 2015 World Cup, which will be hosted by the US and Canada.

A crowd of about 20,000 is expected and Burgess – who is from a great rugby league family – said: “I think it has been worth making a stand.

“The result is obviously the most important thing, but showcasing what we believe to be the greatest game in the world on American soil is another task for us.

“There’s always going to be people that doubt it but it has been a success so far. Walking around the streets of Denver, people are genuinely talking about it and I guess the big test will be how many turn up.

“Denver is a huge sporting city and there seems to be a buzz about it in town, so hopefully we do the game justice.

“Getting together and playing, wherever it is, will help put rugby league high on the agenda. I don’t think it’s dependent on this game alone – it’s about how much we want it to happen.”

New Zealand are coached by Michael Maguire, who masterminded South Sydney’s 2014 Grand Final win over Canterbury.

Burgess, who defied a broken cheekbone to win man-of-the-match honours in that decider, added: “We want to be competing at the top of world rugby and these games will help.”

England’s last outing was the agonising 6-0 World Cup final loss to Australia in December.

Burgess added: “There’s more respect for us but we didn’t get the job done.”