Murray to focus on slams in comeback
ANDY MURRAY says he is prioritising the grand slams as he prepares to play his first match in seven months at the Battle of the Brits today.
The three-time grand-slam champion has been out of action since November with a bruised bone which hampered him during Great Britain’s Davis Cup campaign, but makes his comeback against Liam Broady in the all-British tournament at the National Tennis Centre.
With tennis now able to resume, brother Jamie is hosting an exhibition round-robin tournament in Roehampton that sees the former world No.1 joined by Dan Evans, Broady, Kyle Edmund, James Ward, Jay Clarke, Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper in the singles competition.
It gives Murray the chance to get some competitive action under his belt ahead of the planned August resumption of the main tour which will see two grand slams come in quick succession, the US Open and the French Open.
“My hip’s been feeling better, probably the last three or four weeks. It feels better than in March,” said Murray.
“I think the schedule is tricky. I understand the reasons why it’s like that, but I don’t understand exactly which tournaments I will or won’t play.
“The Grand Slams will be my priority, to play in those ones. But, in terms of what I would do in the lead-up to them, I’m not sure.”
Murray would likely be one of the higher-profile names to play at the US Open, with Roger Federer out injured and Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic dubious about travelling.
One of Djokovic’s problems were the safety protocols, which he described as “extreme” and restrict the number of people players can have on site to one.
That would not deter Murray from going to New York.
“I don’t mind what the situation is, providing it’s safe. If I was told I could take one person with me, for example, you can make that work,” he said. “I would probably go with a physio in that situation, with some coaching done remotely. That’s not a perfect situation, obviously.
“You have to make do with what’s possible. That sort of thing wouldn’t bother me much. For me it’s more about the safety.”