Andy Murray ends five-year top 40 hiatus to give Wimbledon seeding hopes a shot in arm
Andy Murray’s glorious run of form on grass could not have come at a better time as his latest ATP Challenger Tour title will see him climb back into the top 40 of the ATP Rankings.
The three-time Grand Slam winner made it back-to-back second-tier titles on Sunday as he followed up his Surbiton Trophy success last week with the Nottingham Open title, defeating Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-4 for his 10th win in a row.
Murray picked up 125 ranking points and he will move to 1,030 points, resulting in a six-place jump in the Live ATP Rankings to No 38 – his highest position since April 2018.
The former world 1, of course, missed the bulk of the 2018 campaign as he underwent hip surgery and he found himself outside the top 800 at one point while he was sidelined.
Murray then made a recovery, but he underwent another career-hip saving operation in January 2019 and once again tumbled down the rankings before he started moving up again by the end of that campaign.
He returned to the top 100 for the first time again in February 2022 and by June that year he briefly hit No 48 before yo-yoing between the top 50 and top 75 for the next year.
WATCH: Andy Murray gets emotional as his children watch him win another title
However, his twin ATP Challenger Tour titles have now seen him move back into the top 40 for the first time in five years.
Murray’s Wimbledon top 32 hopes
The latest boost means Murray is only a few places off a seeding for Wimbledon 2023, but there will be a lot of twists and turns before the official seedings are confirmed.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is currently No 32 in the Live ATP Rankings with 1,115 points, although that could still change as No 33 Tallon Griekspoor will be in action in the Libema Open final later on Sunday and victory could see him move up to No 29 with Davidovich Fokina dropping one place.
As things stand, Sebastian Korda is next best with 1,175 points so Murray will likely have to make up roughly 145 points if he wants to be in the top 32 before the Wimbledon seeding cut-off date on June 26.
Murray, though, has another advantage as he won’t drop any points as he didn’t play at any events in the final two weeks before Wimbledon last year due to injury while of those ahead of him in the queue will drop points.
Murray will next be in action at the ATP 500 Queen’s Club Championship and will likely have to reach at least the semi-final as 180 points will be offer – only 90 points are awarded for a run to the quarter-final.
It won’t be an easy task as he will face seventh seed Alex de Minaur in the first round while he could meet third seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-final.
