Marvel Murray leads Brit pack
ANDY MURRAY back playing Novak djokovic, three men in the last 16 of a big clay-court championship and a us open women’s
champion. these are giddy times for British tennis. Murray faces djokovic in the third round of the Madrid open today for the first time in more than five years, a triumph of both modern hip renewal techniques and his refusal to quit. He will not be an isolated figure after dan evans and Cam Norrie carved out excellent wins yesterday over Roberto Bautista Agut and John Isner respectively. there have been nine GB wins from 11 singles matches here. two came from emma Raducanu and one from Jack draper, who is looking like an emerging talent. the world’s best doubles player, Joe salisbury, is also a Brit. the run may come to a shuddering halt today. yet Murray has already made a statement after the u-turn that has seen him play the clay season. His early-hours win over denis shapovalov has earned him a free hit against old foe djokovic. ‘He’s No1 in the world and I’m playing with a metal hip, so I shouldn’t have a chance,’ said Murray. ‘I worked extremely hard to get myself here and it’s a fantastic opportunity to play him again. My movement has been so much better than at the beginning of the year.’ Murray’s recent coaching reunion with Ivan Lendl cannot be a coincidence. As evans observed: ‘His attitude looks way more positive. Maybe that’s the work with Ivan and having the tennis in his legs. He was talking a lot to his box but was very positive.’ evans now faces world No8 Andrey Rublev while Norrie takes on the brilliant young spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Murray v Djokovic — today 11am.
TV: LIVE Amazon Prime.