A brand new event just for Murray to aid his comeback
EXCLUSIVE
ANDY MURRAY has been in confidential talks with the Lawn Tennis Association about them staging a bespoke new tournament early this summer, designed to accommodate his planned comeback.
The frontrunner to host his eagerly anticipated return is the unlikely venue of Loughborough University’s indoor hard courts.
This week the twice-Wimbledon champion’s management company, 77, gave an upbeat briefing about Murray’s fitness. The expectation is that he will begin on-court practice later this month having had hip surgery in early January.
There was also the somewhat cryptic hint that he might return before his initial publicly stated target of the grass-court season.
It now appears this could involve an extra tournament during the first week of the French Open in late May at Challenger level, the tier below the main ATP Tour.
Murray’s problem is that around the time he thinks he will be ready to return, it is the height of the clay-court season, a surface he would want to avoid because it is the most demanding for him to move on, and also the most different to grass.
The nearest thing that might look suitable is an obscure hard-court Challenger in South Korea. It would be preferable to make his comeback closer to home, and well-placed sources have told Sportsmail talks over a new event are at a relatively advanced stage. It would be the first time Murray has played an event at Challenger level since late 2005.
Although the prize money that the LTA would have to put up could be as low as £39,000 — with obvious paying spectator interest — it would require generosity from the governing body, as these kind of events are notoriously difficult to break even on with all the associated staging costs.
There is also no umbrella sponsor for tournaments in the UK, with Aegon having not renewed their support when it expired last year.
Any plans remain dependent on Murray’s return to full fitness, but the Scot is clearly confident that a first appearance since last summer’s Wimbledon is only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, the LTA has offered Dan Evans support as he prepares to return to tennis, following his doping ban.
The former British No 2 was banned for a year after failing a test for cocaine in Barcelona last spring and can return to action on April 24.
Under anti-doping rules, because Evans is within two months of the end of his suspension, he can now set foot in official training facilities like the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
He had a meeting with the LTA this week and the governing body has committed to helping the 27-yearold attempt to rebuild his career.
An LTA spokesperson said: ‘The LTA condemns any form of doping, which has no place in our sport. We have met with Dan and he has shown genuine commitment to getting his tennis career back on track.
‘Dan has reflected on his experience over the last ten months and would like to support the LTA’s anti-doping education programme to help emerging young players avoid similar mistakes.
‘We have offered a structured programme of sports science and medicine support to help Dan on his journey back into the sport he loves. Our support will be dependent on a non-negotiable commitment to ongoing monitoring.’
Evans appeared to have put his reputation as the bad boy of British tennis behind him as he climbed into the world’s top 50 only to drop the bombshell last June that he had tested positive for the recreational drug.
Cocaine is only banned incompetition and the International Tennis Federation accepted Evans’ explanation that traces of cocaine he had taken out-of-competition contaminated legal medication after being stored in the same pocket of his washbag.
The support of Davis Cup captain Leon Smith was crucial in Evans’ burst into the top 100, and the Scot is eager to help once more.
Smith said in January: ‘I care about Dan a lot. I’m very open with that. I hope he can come back. I don’t know if he will or not because that’s going to be down to him. He’s talking like he wants to get back. He is a person that always needs help and I hope he’s really open to it because I want to help him.’
Evans will have no ranking when he returns but he knows how to climb the standings quickly, having soared from 763 in June 2015 to inside the top 100 in less than a year.