I WON’T THROW IN THE TOWEL
Murray will give himself till high noon to decide on his latest comeback bid
ANDY MURRAY has delayed until today a decision on playing at Queen’s next week after undergoing a fitness test yesterday.
The Scot’s latest attempt at a comeback saw him play practice sets with British No.2 Cameron Norrie on an outside court at London’s Queen’s Club, which will stage the Fever-tree Championships.
The 31-year-old then put back an announcement on whether he is ready to return to competitive tennis. “I am going to sleep on it,” Murray said.
The draw for Queen’s made at noon today.
The double Olympic champion has not played a competitive match will be since Wimbledon 339 days ago and had not been seen in public since his hip operation in Australia in January. He has already pulled out of four planned comeback events and is now running out of time to be fit for Wimbledon on July 2.
If he pulls out, he could play at Eastbourne – or delay his return to action until the American hardcourt season in August.
British No.1 Kyle Edmund doubts the three-time Major winner could play Wimbledon without a warm-up event. “I’m sure it is tough in the sense that it’s always good to play tennis before a Grand Slam,” said the Yorkshireman.
“Andy’s not played for a year. If you’ve taken a period out of tennis but also you’re coming back from injury, it’s going to be tough.” JOHANNA KONTA reached her first semi-final since Wimbledon last year with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic at the Nature Valley Open in Nottingham.
The British No.1 has hit form on grass after a disappointing season up to now – and proved too steady for an erratic opponent.
Next up for Konta (left) is Croatian Edmund, the Australian Open semifinalist, has also practised with Murray ahead of the grass-court season – and revealed he still “hits a very good ball – that’s never disappeared.”
Juan Martin del Potro followed world No.1 Rafa Nadal in pulling out of Queen’s, leaving late wild-card Novak Djokovic as potentially the biggest name left in the tournament.
Roger Federer is one win away from reclaiming the world No.1 spot after reaching the semi-finals at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. The Australian Open champion, who beat Guido Pella 6-4 6-4, will face fourth-seed Nick Kyrgios today.
British duo Dan Evans and Jay Clarke have been given wild-cards into the main draw of the Fever-tree Championships. Donna Vekic, who beat her in the final 12 months ago.
She said: “The most important thing is that I’m competing well and fighting for every single point.
“I’m definitely enjoying getting more matches under my belt.”
Following their clash here 12 months ago, Konta and Vekic met in the second round of Wimbledon, with the British player coming through 10-8 in the decider.
British No.4 Katie Boulter found top seed Ashleigh Barty too savvy, the Aussie winning 6-0 6-2.
In the men’s event, Dan Evans reached the last four with a 7-6 6-3 victory over Canadian qualifier Brayden Schnur – but James Ward fell 6-4 6-3 to Ilya Ivashka.