Binos await SFA decision
Andy Murray’s first ATP Tour match since October ended in disappointment.
The Dunblane ace lost 7-6 6-1 to world No 83 Egor Gerasimov on Tuesday in the first round of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.
The big-serving Belarusian was the fitter player across both sets, outlasting Murray in a gruelling 71-minute opening set before cruising in the second en route to a one-hour, 44-minute victory.
Murray was hoping to continue his return after undergoing right hip surgery following the 2019 Australian Open. Later that year, Murray won an ATP Tour title at the European Open in Antwerp, which like the Open Sud de France, is an indoor hard-court event.
He will make his next appearance at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The journey out of lockdown could see retail and hospitality businesses finally make their return by the end of April.
And Stirling Albion may find out on Monday exactly when – or if – they will be back on the field of play with the SFA recently announcing that no decision will be made until March 1 at the very earliest.
Chairman Stuart Brown said he was hoping for good news.
He added: “I’d be disappointed if we were not given a definitive answer on Monday.”
Clubs in Scotland’s bottom two divisions haven’t played since the first weekend in January and counting the scheduled match tomorrow away to Cowdenebeath, the Binos will have missed seven league matches plus their abandoned game at Stenhousemuir on January 2.
A Scottish Cup secondround tie against Raith Rovers has also fallen foul of the lockdown.
The SFA said it would continue to speak with all parties and would provide a further update by March 1 – however that date should not be seen as a proposed restart date.
The Forthbank outfit has played just nine of the scheduled 27 matches this term and recently the Albion chairman said the possibility of reducing the league season to just 18 matches in order to play out the season to a conclusion would be a preference.
“We need to know what’s happening,” he said.
“Clubs are not going to start spending money if we do not know when we can start up again.”
Teams in Leagues One and Two have proposed to implement all protocols currently being applied to the Championship, including weekly Covid testing, which Brown estimates would cost the club around £25,000 between the league’s resumption and the end of the season.