Struggling Murray to defend title
ANDY Murray struggled through two practice sessions at Wimbledon yesterday, but said he still plans to play his first-round match despite a niggling hip injury.
Murray has pulled out of two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club this week and, while emerging unscathed from around three hours of practice at the All England Club, he looked in some discomfort.
The world number one was hitting and serving smoothly, but in between rallies limped, grimaced and occasionally bent over in apparent pain.
Murray, however, often owns a deceptively weary demeanour on court and after his first block of training in the morning, split over two hours, he indicated some optimism about playing his opening match on Monday against Kazakh Alexander Bublik on Centre Court.
“I hope so, that’s the plan,” Murray said. “I’m practising again later. I just had a light practice this morning to see how I feel and I’ll practise again later.”
After completing a second session at Aorangi Park, Murray added: “The session was good. I’m feeling OK.”
Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl has also moved to ease concerns that his charge’s Wimbledon defence is on the rocks before it has even begun.
Asked if he was concerned about Murray’s preparation, Lendl told various national newspapers on Thursday: “Not at all. Unlike before Paris, he is hitting the ball really well. Practice has gone well.”
Meanwhile, Johanna Konta is a significant doubt for Wimbledon having withdrawn from the semifinals of the Aegon International with a back injury.
She said: ““I’m not thinking about (Wimbledon) right now, I just want to rest well and to make sure that I get my health back to the best place possible.”
RISING British tennis sensation Cameron Norrie has been handed a tough draw in the opening round of this year’s Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old – who was born in South Africa but plays under the GB flag courtesy of his Scots father and Welsh mum, Helen – will face the number 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, a player who despite having never won a Grand Slam is regarded as one of the major forces in the men’s game.
Win or lose, the match will represent a massive learning curve for Norrie, pictured above, who spent two years studying and playing tennis at Texas Christian University in the USA.
The American college circuit has become an increasingly popular way for young players to try and bridge the gap between the junior ranks and the main tour, helping to toughen them up both mentally and physically while also providing a degreelevel education.
Since deciding to skip the last year of his studies in order to turn professional, Norrie has climbed the world rankings to 230 and was rewarded for his progress with a wild card into this year’s Wimbledon.
“Turning professional is always what I wanted to do,” says Norrie. “But at no point did I ever regret going to America. It helped me grow up. It helps you to mature, not just as a tennis player but as a person. And it’s hard work. You change physically. You become tougher. I feel ready for this now in a way I might not have a couple of years ago when the time came to step up from the juniors.”
Despite now living in the UK, Norrie describes himself as a “nomad” having grown up in New Zealand before moving to the US to play and study.
“That’s the way it is,” he says. “It made sense, what with my family originally being from here, to come to the UK. But you’ve got to travel in order to be a tennis player. Even playing in America there was a lot of travel involved because the distances there are so huge.
“New Zealand is such a long way from anywhere so it was always going to be difficult to base myself there. But I’ve always felt pretty British. You end up with bits of you coming from everywhere! But that’s fine by me. You learn something everywhere you go and I consider myself fortunate to have moved around a lot.”