Andy Murray echoes Dan Evans rant after reaching Nottingham Open semi-finals
Andy Murray has supplied his view on the present state of British tennis just a few weeks after Dan Evans steered that Emma Raducanu‘s historic US Open triumph in 2021 merely papered over the cracks. Murray was talking after reaching the Nottingham Open semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Dominic Stricker for his eighth successive victory to finish a British clear sweep on the match.
Murray, who’s hoping to maneuver into the world’s high 32 to be seeded for Wimbledon later this yr, made mild work of Stricker to arrange a last-four assembly with Nuno Borges after wins for British trio Jodie Burrage, Katie Boulter and Heather Watson within the girls’s occasion. He was quizzed on the success of his compatriots throughout his on-court interview and insisted that he’s supporting them of their efforts to make the nation proud within the face of latest criticism.
“I mean, obviously this week’s been great,” stated Murray. “A couple of weeks ago we were hearing that British tennis wasn’t doing well. Things change a lot on a week-to-week basis. You just want all of the players to reach their potential and make sure everyone’s working hard.
“Not everybody goes to win Wimbledon and Grand Slams, issues like that, however you simply need to be sure that everyone seems to be taking advantage of this superb alternative to play tennis for a dwelling. This week has clearly been sensible.
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“The women have done extremely well this week and hopefully that continues through the year but, yeah, it should be a fun weekend for British tennis fans. It’s been rare that we’ve had so many people at the latter stages of big events, so enjoy it.”
Murray’s feedback seemed to be referencing a blistering rant by Evans on the French Open final month, wherein the 33-year-old slammed the state of British tennis and insisted that the present home setup does little to assist the game thrive on UK shores. He additionally claimed that the emergence of Raducanu, who didn’t play at Roland Garros after present process surgical procedure on her palms and ankles, has masked the problems going through the sport in Britain over the previous few years.
Evans instructed reporters: “They’ve been lucky that they had a Grand Slam champion and she’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they? Men’s or women’s, the rankings don’t lie. Men’s, not many of us playing qualys, not many main draw. I don’t want to sound like a broken record but there’s way further to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.
“We’re in a large, large behavior of sending individuals to varsity now. I do not suppose that massively helps. It’ll be fascinating. I believe the grass final yr actually helped paper over some cracks as properly. After the grass, there will probably be a little bit of soul-searching I think about, after their holidays.”