PAIN, SET & MATCH
Could No 1 seed Andy be out of Wimbledon?
AFTER being seeded number one at Wimbledon for the first time yesterday, Andy Murray should have been brimming with confidence and the nation preparing to cheer him to victory.
But unfortunately for both the defending champion and the public’s hopes, there was just one thing standing in the way – a dodgy hip.
After the triumph of last year’s championships, 2017 has been marked by disappointment and injuries for the 30-year-old Scot, who yesterday pulled out of two scheduled practice sessions and even failed to lift his racket during a charity knock-up.
With days to go before the Wimbledon tournament, he is understood to have swapped tennis for physiotherapy, leaving the nation holding its breath and wondering if he will even make it the courts at all.
Murray is said to have headed to Fulham Football Club for a session of ‘gyrotonic’, a stretching technique used by yoga lovers that helps to increase spine flexibility.
Not since David Beckham broke a bone in his foot ahead of the 2002 World Cup finals or Wayne Rooney’s injury sent football fans into a spin in 2006 have tensions soared so high.
First there was Queen’s last week, when Murray, watched by wife Kim, crashed out in the first round against a player ranked 89 places below him despite having been crowned tournament champion five times.
Then he pulled out of an exhibition match on Tuesday at the Hurlingham Club in west London, suffering from hip pain. Sources close to him said the decision was ‘precautionary’.
And yesterday eyebrows were again raised when he was unable to take on guests at a Tim Henman Foundation event, leaving many concerned.
Murray had been billed as the highlight of the charity event at Roehampton, but those who had been due to spend two hours hitting balls with him were left playing with coach Jamie Delgado as Murray, from Dunblane, twiddled his thumbs.
His top seed ranking, above Novak Djokovic in second, Roger Federer in third and Rafael Nadal in fourth, came after a year that has been blighted by ill health, including shingles, a torn tendon in his right elbow and several bouts of flu.
As many crossed their fingers for Murray, fellow Briton Johanna Konta offered tennis fans a glimmer of hope as she stormed up the table to be seeded sixth – the highest for a British woman since Virginia Wade in 1979. Murray worry – Back Page