Andy Murray sends message to struggling British girls stars as Raducanu usurped

Andy Murray has given his verdict on the state of British girls’s tennis after advancing to the semi-final of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy. Emma Raducanu can be dethroned because the British No 1 subsequent week whereas Britain nonetheless has no girls on the planet’s high 100. And Murray despatched the present crop of younger stars a message following their very own success in Surbiton.

Murray booked his spot within the final 4 on the Surbiton Challenger with a three-set comeback win over fifth seed Jason Kubler on Friday. The world No 43 is the one British man left on the event after the likes of Dan Evans and Ryan Peniston crashed out earlier than the quarter-final.

But Britain has been properly represented within the ITF girls’s occasion operating concurrently, with Katie Boulter, Katie Swan and Lily Miyazaki all via to the semi-final. It means Raducanu will not be the British No 1 because the 20-year-old continues to get well from surgical procedure.

There has been some criticism of British tennis in current weeks, because the nation was left with zero girls within the high 100 after Raducanu dropped out. But Murray is backing the ladies in Surbiton to struggle their approach into the elite group within the rankings after a powerful exhibiting thus far.

“They have had a very good week and hopefully they can continue and push their ranking up because all of them are capable of being top 100 players. They just need to be out on the tour consistently,” he stated after his 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.

A 3-time Grand Slam champion, Murray additionally slammed the concept that British tennis wasn’t profitable. He continued: “I don’t really know what is considered success for a Grand Slam nation. Is top 100 players what matters? Is it Grand Slam champions? I don’t know what it is that people want.”

The former world No 1 thought the purpose posts had modified after Raducanu’s historic victory on the 2021 US Open. “Of course I would like to see more British players competing at the top of the game because I care about it and I want them to do well,” he added.

And Boulter additionally thought that the British girls had been proving themselves in Surbiton as she stated: “It [shows] that the talent is there. Emma’s story is an absolute fairy tale. We all believe it and hope that’s going to be us.

“But the reality is that week in week out, it’s not a sprint it’s a marathon. You have to keep reminding yourself of that, keep your head down and keep working.”