Pals rally round after Wilander comments

Friends and allies of Andy Murray rallied round him yesterday in the wake of comments from former world no 1 Mats Wilander questioning whether he is right to maintain his latest comeback. in the wake of his heavy defeat by stan Wawrinka in the French Open first round, Wilander’s views were branded ‘pathetic’ by dani Vallverdu, who coaches the swiss player responsible for ousting him. The swedish legend, winner of seven Grand slam titles, is never afraid to speak his mind and said Murray should look at whether it was right to take wildcards at the expense of younger players. Vallverdu, a former coach and close friend of Murray now working with Wawrinka, was distinctly unimpressed, saying via Twitter: ‘He’s entitled to his opinion like i’m entitled to mine to think that’s absolutely pathetic from Mats.’ nick Kyrgios, another of the 33 year-old scot’s mates, gave one of his customarily robust responses: ‘shut up Mats, no one cares. Muzz, just know that however long you stay, we all appreciate and enjoy your tennis and banter. Also i’ve never watched a point of Mats Wilander.’ Jim Courier, the former roland Garros champion currently working for iTV, was more measured, but argued: ‘i certainly think this isn’t the end of Andy Murray unless he wants it to be. He has more runway to play. ‘He is realistic about what that looks like and i think everyone should be as well. ‘Certainly Andy didn’t play his best — he knows that. He is very realistic and i think he is going to fare far better when playing on indoor courts that are a little quicker, that are lower bouncing. ‘Andy has every right to take wildcards if they are offered and tournaments have every right to give them to him if they want to.’ Anne Keothavong, captain of Britain’s Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) team, suggested that Murray could look to change his long-standing support staff, the likes of coach Jamie delgado, to try and get the most out of what remains in his career. ‘Maybe he might take a long hard look at the team he is working with,’ she said. ‘They have been incredibly loyal, they have done a great job with him, they have been with him through all the tough times. ‘But maybe he needs somebody else to help fire that spark.’ Wilander is definitely one of the game’s better pundits, although he will have a job to persuade people why a former member of the old ‘Big Four’ has not earned the right to choose the manner of his own departure. An underlying issue is that under the temporary Covid ranking system — whereby earned ranking points are valid for two years rather than one — it is going to be harder for Murray to climb the rankings than in normal times. This will mean more requests for wildcards than would otherwise be the case as he tries to recover his former status. Another factor is that tournament opportunities may further diminish, with fears that the Paris Masters, usually scheduled for early november at Bercy, may be cancelled this year along with the preceding ATP event in Vienna. Qualifier Liam Broady, making his main draw debut, yesterday went out 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 to world number 68 Jiri Vesely from the Czech republic, finding the step up against an accomplished clay courter too much. The past week has, however, boosted his bank account by £50,000, much needed given the sketchy nature of the calendar for the next few months. British number three Cam norrie was last night playing against Colombia’s daniel elahi Galan in a huge five-set battle.

I certainly think that this is not the end of Murray