Heat will be on Murray in testing warm-ups
ANDY MURRAY’S comeback took a tricky twist yesterday when he was drawn with three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka in the first round at Eastbourne.
And if Murray beats his fellow-wildcard, the Scot will have to play British No 1 Kyle Edmund next.
Eastbourne is the final warm-up before Wimbledon for Murray.
He accepted a wildcard to gain match fitness, given he is unsure whether his body can handle five-set tennis, but the unkind draw has thrown a spanner in the works.
Murray has fallen to 156 in the world during his time out while Wawrinka is 261 following his own injury issues, which saw him have two operations on his knee.
Last week Murray kickstarted his comeback at Queen’s, losing a hard-fought first-round battle with the Australian Nick Kyrgios that lasted two hours and 39 minutes.
His fitness surprised many who were unsure how long the two-time Wimbledon winner, who underwent surgery on his hip in Melbourne on January 8, would last following his significant time out.
After losing to Kyrgios, Murray hinted it was possible he could play at Eastbourne but not Wimbledon.
That is unlikely, but the 31-year-old will see how he fares this week. He and Wawrinka have met on 18 occasions, with the Briton coming out on top 10 times.
Meanwhile Edmund, seeded second for this week’s event, has a bye in the first round and will await the winner of Murray and Wawrinka.
Eastbourne is a tournament better known for its strong women’s field.
This year Jo Konta has a bye in the first round while fellow Britons Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Swan face Kristina Mladenovic, a qualifier and Danielle Collins respectively.
The BBC may be kicking themselves because they have the rights to broadcast the women’s matches only this week. Amazon Prime will show the men’s tournament.
Over in Germany, Roger Federer came through a gruelling match against Denis Kudla to again reach the Gerry Weber Open final.
Nine-time champion Federer pipped the American qualifier 7-6, 7-5 to reach a 12th Halle final.