Tennis Today: John McEnroe doubts whether Andy Murray can make successful singles comeback

Tennis Today
Andy Murray press conference

In Tennis Today, we get a stark warning about Andy Murray’s singles prospects, and the LTA have stepped up their bid to find the next British star.

What’s on the site
The Wimbledon seeding formula has not been kind of world number two yet second seed Rafael Nadal, and he really isn’t all that happy about it.

Novak Djokovic is pretty much unaffected, but he has backed Nadal’s complaint.

Andy Murray, meanwhile, is all booked up to play in the men’s doubles at Wimbledon, but he’s having some second thoughts about entering the mixed doubles too.

On the WTA side of things, world number six Petra Kvitova has admitted she may not make Wimbledon at all as she continues to battle a wrist injury.

And one US legend has warned Serena Williams that she needs to get a move on if she’s going to break Margaret Court’s Grand Slam record.

What’s in the news
John McEnroe has been assessing Andy Murrray’s comeback, and the upshot is that he doesn’t really know what to expect – both in the short term and long.

Murray is once again playing the doubles at Wimbledon, and he could win it, says McEnroe. Then again, he could have a nightmare.

“I think he has a chance to win it [the doubles at Wimbledon] but he could also lose first round,” McEnroe said.

“That is the bottom line. It would be great if he won it, although even with that, I don’t think you will be able to determine how he will be in singles, how high his ranking will go.

“I’m glad he is doing it, feeling it out right now, and we will see what happens.

“But there is no question with the way he plays, and returns, if he is into it competitive-wise, that he could go all the way – but even after that it is totally unpredictable.

“While Andy has talked about being pain free, doubles is obviously a different animal to singles. You can’t really determine how the body reacts.”

Elsewhere, the LTA have stepped up their bid to try and find the net Murray by announcing they will fund 96 new indoor courts over the next 10 years.

The project will cost £250m and will take the total in country to nearly 400.

“We want to break the perception that tennis is just a summer sport, or it’s only for people in the south,” said LTA Chief Scot Lloyd.

“With our climate, indoor facilities are crucial. We have lagged behind other European countries in terms of absolute numbers but we are blessed with the resources to do this and we want to inject pace into the process.”

What’s on social media
Just another day on Planet Monfils…

 

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We fight, We kiss, We hug, We text, We talk, We argue, We laugh, We love… That’s us 🧩🧩

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Nick Kyrgios got the family photo album out…

 

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Wimbledon mood 😂🧸 #lilkygs

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Rafael Nadal went green…

 

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It’s very green…. where am I? 😉💪🏻🎾

A post shared by Rafa Nadal (@rafaelnadal) on

Andy Genie Bouchard went catsuit…

 

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c a t s u i t v i b e s

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What’s on TV

ATP and WTA Eastbourne – Amazon Prime, Eurosport 1, and BBC Two
ATP Antalya – Amazon Prime
Wimbledon qualifying – BBC red button

Andy Murray Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal

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