A FIVE RING CIRCUS
Seven-time Grand Slam champ Jamie left bemused as Olympic selectors dump him from the Brit doubles teams for Tokyo
JAMIE MURRAY admits he feels “slighted” by Britain’s Olympic tennis selectors after being denied the chance to play in Japan next month.
The 35-year-old is coming to terms with finding himself the odd man out for Tokyo 2020 and believes his record of seven Grand Slam titles in men’s and mixed doubles should have backed his case for a place.
British No.1 Joe Salisbury has opted to play doubles with Jamie’s younger brother Andy and No.2 Neal Skupski has chosen to pair up with Dan Evans. It’s a crushing blow to the Scot who feels the rejection has strengthened his resolve to make an impact at Wimbledon when he goes into action with Brazilian Bruno Soares to take on American Nicholas Monroe and Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the first round of the men’s doubles later this week. He said: “To not be selected as part of the team feels like a rejection and you feel slighted by it. “I guess I did expect to be selected and it’s disappointing not to get picked. When there are four doubles spots, not to get one of them is disappointing, considering the career I’ve had over the last six, seven years. The selectors obviously went with the teams they thought had the best chance to get a medal.
“It’s disappointing – but I’ve just got to focus on Wimbledon, getting my body right to give my best here over the next two weeks.
“I didn’t really have any big discussion with the selectors. I just got a call saying I wasn’t going to make the team and they’d decided to go with two other teams.
“I don’t necessarily agree with that but that’s just the way it is. You just have to live with that.”
Murray is relishing the chance to get to play in front of a crowd with the tournament being part of the government’s Event Research Programme, which means it will operate at 50 per cent capacity, building to full capacity crowds of 15,000 on Centre Court for the finals weekend.
He said: “It will be great playing in front of fans. To get 50 per cent at the start of the tournament, increasing as it goes on, it’s going to be great for the players.
“We’ve missed playing in front of the fans so much – the experience has been so sterile, the atmosphere, it hasn’t been super inspiring. The fans are what make it special for us. Just look at Centre Court today – it’s such a different feel, even with only 7000 or 8000 fans in.
“They haven’t been able to watch live tennis for a couple of years so hopefully they’re all really excited and they make their voices heard.”
The Scot has been staying in a central London hotel due to protocols despite living just 20 minutes from Wimbledon and he can’t wait for restrictions to be relaxed.
He said: “It’s got to change some time, we have been stuck in hotels for over a year now. I’m sure a lot of players are pretty tired of the process. We are hoping for some relaxing of the rules and a bit more freedom would be nice.”
Jamie will team up with brother Andy for a Scotland against England ‘Battle of the Brits’ at Aberdeen’s P&J Live Arena on December 21 and 22 and he’s adamant having more live tennis is crucial to showcase the sport north of the border.
He said: ”We have no live tennis in Scotland. We have nothing. If we want to try to build on the legacy Andy created and the interest in the sport then we need to have live events.
“We’ve always had amazing support from the Scottish people, whether at Davis Cup matches or at any other tournament.
“We want the opportunity to play in front of them.”
Tickets are available via battleofthebrits.co.uk
It feels like a rejection. When there are four doubles spots... it’s disappointing JAMIE MURRAY