The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Andy Murray hits out at schedulers and withdraws from Rogers Cup
Andy Murray has decided to withdraw from next week’s Rogers Cup in Toronto after a gruelling week in Washington.
Murray, who returned to the ATP Tour after pulling out of Wimbledon, made it through to the quarter-final of the Citi Open in his first hard court tournament since March 2017, but has got there by winning three gruelling three-set matches, spending more than eight hours on court.
The Scot was due to play Australian Alex De Minaur in the last eight late last night in the American capital, just 17 hours after finishing his third round match against Marius Copil at 3am.
It is the most matches Murray has played consecutively since returning from the hip injury which kept him out for 11 months and he has opted for a week’s rest and recovery instead of heading to Canada when his run in Washington ends.
He was handed a wild card to the tournament he has won three times, but will now travel to Cincinnati to prepare for his next scheduled event – the Western and Southern Open starting on August 13.
Murray said: “Sadly I won’t be able to take my place in the draw in Toronto.
“I’d like to thank the tournament for a wild card, I always love playing in Canada and look forward to returning next year.
“I’ve played quite a few matches this week in Washington and I need to be smart with my rest and recovery as I come back from injury.
“My plan is to head to Cincinnati early next week. Appreciate all the support this week in Washington, it’s amazing to be back playing.”
Murray was left sobbing after his marathon win over Copil in the early hours of yesterday morning, which came after previous lengthy battles against Mackenzie McDonald and British number one Kyle Edmund.
“Just the emotions coming at the end of an extremely long day and a long match,” he explained.
Murray had looked set to win the opening set against Copil, ranked 93, after moving 5-0 ahead in the tie-break only for the Romanian to reel off seven points in a row.
The 31-year-old levelled the contest and looked the stronger in the decider but Copil pushed him all the way to a deciding tie-break.
Greek 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was first to book his place in the semifinals.
Tsitsipas beat third seed David Goffin 6-3 6-4 last night.
Katie Boulter crashed out of the women’s event after losing to qualifier Allie Kiick in the second round.
Boulter, who had dismissed fifth seed Aleksandra Krunic in the first round, lost her serve to love in the opening game of the match and found herself a set down after 38 minutes.
The pair exchanged two breaks each in a more closely-fought second set, before 21-year-old Boulter found some momentum and broke again to level the match and force a decider.
But her American opponent fought back strongly in the final set, taking three breaks of serve to clinch a 6-4 5-7 6-1 victory.