Andy Murray still has his sights set on being seeded at Wimbledon as he continued his strong start to the grass court season at the LTA’s Rothesay Open Nottingham.
The top seed in Nottingham, Murray, 36, defeated unheralded Belgian Joris De Loore 6-3 6-4 in his Nottingham opener to make it six wins on a row on grass courts, following his triumph at the LTA’s Lexus Surbiton Trophy last week - his first title on the surface since winning Wimbledon in 2016.
The two-time Wimbledon champion club currently sits 44th in the ATP Rankings, potentially 12 spots off being seeded at the All England Club barring withdrawals from anyone ranked higher than him.
Victory at the ATP Challenger event would in all likelihood push him inside the top 40, with an appearance at the Queen’s Club - where he holds a record five titles - his last chance to secure enough ranking points to be inside the top 32 ahead of the Wimbledon draw being made.
“That’s my goal here, I want to go as deep as possible and try and get close to being a seed at Wimbledon,” said Murray. “That’s my ultimate goal for the next few weeks so hopefully I’ll get a few more matches this week.
“I’ll have a nice day off, come in and try and get a bit more used to the conditions of the courts, rest up in the afternoon and get ready for a big push across the weekend.
“It was tricky, it was very blustery conditions and these courts play really nicely, but they’re quite different to the ones in Surbiton. I felt like I struggled a bit with my timing early on but I served well throughout the match and that helped me out. I think these courts play a bit more similar to how Wimbledon plays like in the second week, so hopefully I’m in the second week there. The main thing for me at the moment is getting as many matches as possible and playing in different conditions against all different styles of opponent. He [De Loore] was a really big server and really went after his groundstrokes across the match, he made it tough so I’m really glad to get through.”
Throughout the prime of his career the thought of Murray playing in Challenger events would have likely been unheard of, but in recent years the former world No.1 has appeared in several of the events to build form and improve his ranking following his hip resurfacing.
Murray last played in Nottingham as a 19-year-old back in 2006 and his return has certainly been a welcome one, with packed stands across Centre Court for his opening round contest.
The ATP Challenger at the Nottingham Tennis Centre runs alongside a WTA 250-level event and though both tournaments are well backed by the LTA, Murray knows just how important strong public support is for some tournaments.
He added: “I think I played for the first time here when I was 15 or 16.
“I lost in qualifying to Bob Bryan, who’s also had hip resurfacing as well, and I got to play in the doubles with Martin Lee here. I think the last time I was here was in 2006 and I think I lost to Andreas Seppi.
“It’s brilliant [to see the crowds], I love it. It’s so important for tournaments like this to get the support of locals to come out.
“For the first days of the tournament to have crowds like this, it’s really important, not just for us players - even though we love it - but for the survival of the tournaments. For these tours to remain here for a long time, they need the support of the public. The fans did a great job today and I’m hoping they can come back throughout the rest of the week.”
::For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
