NEVER HURRY A MURRAY

TIM HENMAN believes Andy Murray has earned the right to keep playing tennis following retirement hints.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray is on a six-match losing streak and recently hit back at claims he was tarnishing his legacy by continuing to compete.

Henman wants to see the former world No.1 play for as long as possible, looking to Wimbledon and the Olympics as opportunities for the 36-year-old (top) to reverse his fortune. “While obviously he has the energy and the enthusiasm and the hunger and desire and motivation to keep on playing, he should keep playing,” Henman said.

“Tennis player is the best job in the world and, trust me, there’s plenty of time to be retired in the future.”

Murray is now 1-9 in his last 10 matches and has not won since October, suffering four first-round exits already this year. Former world No.4 Henman (below) added: “I really hope he can get some wins under his belt because there were plenty of times last year when I thought that he was playing some really good tennis. “Wimbledon was a classic example. He was very unlucky against Stefanos Tsitsipas to be up two sets to one and have to come back the next day. “I really hope that he can have a change of fortune and get some wins.”

Britain’s Harriet Dart advanced to her first tourlevel semi-final with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Nuria Parrizas Diaz at the Transylvania Open.

The Brit came through qualifying to reach the main draw in Cluj in Romania and is now set to re-enter the world’s top 100 on Monday.

In today’s semi-final Dart will play Czech star Karolina Pliskova, who last night beat Sara Errani 6-2 6-0.