Beaten Murray to decide on Wimbledon
Andy Murray expects to decide by tomorrow morning’s draw whether he will compete at Wimbledon.
The 31-year-old Scot has played only three matches since his return from almost a year out. And he suffered the second of two defeats yesterday when he lost 6-4 6-4 to Kyle Edmund at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.
He will base his decision on whether he believes he can do himself justice.
Asked if he will know by 10am tomorrow, when the draw is made, Murray responded: “Yeah, probably. I’ll chat with my team.
“Obviously see how I pull up again, but I don’t really anticipate any issues.
“With each match, I’m trying to gain information about where I’m at physically and where my game is at. “There is no risk of me playing tennis just now. It’s just whether I feel like I’m able to do myself justice. Two weeks ago I practised with Kyle and I didn’t win a game. “So I have made decent improvements (over) the last couple of weeks and obviously have been somewhat competitive in the matches that I have played. But I don’t just want to go out there to just play. I want to be able to compete properly.
“If I don’t feel like I can do that, then I won’t play. If I do and physically I feel ready, mentally I’m in the right place, then I’ll go for it, but there’s no danger about me injuring my hip more than there would be at any other stage.”
Edmund, 23, has replaced as the British No 1, and victory represented his first against a player he describes as his “idol”.
“To beat him, it might seem strange but it shows I have improved a lot,” he said. “It’s not nice playing them, but it’s one of them where to have that definitely gives you a lot of confidence and belief.”
Edmund, seeded 22 for Wimbledon, next meets Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarter-finals.
Cameron Norrie, after a 6-4 6-3 victory over fellow Briton Jay Clarke, will face Lucas Lacko of Slovakia.
Johanna Konta was eliminated from the women’s singles, having lost 4-6 6-1 6-4 in the third round to Danish top seed Caroline Wozniacki.