Andy Murray is hoping to qualify for Wimbledon, but faces a race against the clock to heal after being forced to retire from Queen’s due to an abdominal injury he suffered in the final on Sunday. of Stuttgart.
After returning to London on Sunday night, Murray underwent an examination on Monday afternoon which confirmed the tension of his left abdominal muscle: “After an examination this afternoon, an abdominal injury means I will not be in condition to compete at Queen’s this year, “he said. Murray, five-time Queen’s champion, in a statement. “The tournament means a lot to me, and it’s disappointing not to compete, especially after playing some good games on the pitch.”
Murray suffered an abdominal injury while serving early in the third set of his match against Matteo Berrettini. After the match, he said that he had never suffered such an injury before and that he believed that the injury was a consequence of his heavy load of matches during the last two weeks, and that he also reached the semifinals of Surbiton’s rival a week before. . .
Due to the satisfaction of producing some of his best tennis in recent years in Stuttgart, Murray has to take care of an injury at the most inopportune moment. Murray remains hopeful of competing at Wimbledon and, although he will not be playing at Eastbourne, may play an exhibition event at Hurlingham Club next week. Wimbledon starts on June 27, a week later.
Meanwhile, Jack Draper continued his rise to the highest levels of professional tennis as he achieved the biggest victory of his young career at the Queen’s, defeating world number 14 Taylor Fritz, the fourth seed, by 6- 3, 6-2 in the first round. get his first victory in the top 20.
A year ago, Queen’s was the site of Draper’s first major breakthrough on the ATP tour when he annoyed Jannik Sinner, who was then ranked 23rd, on his way to the quarterfinals.
A year later, 20-year-old Draper returns at a different time in his career. This week marks his debut in the top 100, now number 99 in the world, a distinction he won after starting the year by winning four challenger titles and raising more than 160 rankings in the process.
“I am very proud of myself, I have done a lot of work, I have known for a long time that my level has been good enough to compete at the highest level, but there is something to say and something is to achieve victories at this level. . against players like Taylor, very happy and gives me a lot of confidence, “Draper said.
On a day of mixed fortunes for local favorites, British No. 1 Cameron Norrie was unable to follow last year’s race until the final as he was defeated 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4 by Grigor Dimitrov at the opening. round.
According to the Spanish agency EFE (link), the champion of the French Open, Rafael Nadal, trained on Monday behind closed doors on grass in Mallorca, place of the ATP 250 test next week, while trying to return to Wimbledon after undergoing a radiofrequency ablation treatment on his foot shortly. after his victory in Paris.
At the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, second seed Simona Halep reached the second round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Lesia Tsurenko as she tried to get back to the top of the game. After coming out of her first WTA quarterfinals in Nottingham, Britain’s No. 3 Harriet Dart kept her good form with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Camila Osorio.