After going out in the first round at the US Open, Andy Murray on Monday continued his comeback at a Challenger event in Rennes, France, saying that he wanted to play matches and boost his ranking.
“Obviously, I would like to try and win the event,” said Murray, who on Monday beat German Yannick Maden 6-3, 6-1, in the first round at Rennes.
“Most importantly, for me, is just to get matches,” he said. “I want to keep playing, competing and get my body used to playing two, three, four matches in a week again.”
Photo: AFP
Murray, who underwent right-hip surgery in 2017 and again in 2019, lost in five sets to third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round at New York City, where the Scot won the third of his major titles in 2012.
“One of the goals between now and the end of the year is to try and make a big improvement with my ranking, and to do that, I need to be competing often,” said the 34-year-old, who is ranked 116th. “I still feel like I can play a very high level, but if all of the time when I go to the big tournaments I play top players right at the beginning of the event, it’s not so easy.”
“The Challengers often have good players. We have three guys that have been in the top 10. That’s quite rare. There should be some good matches, and it’s nice for the crowd to come out and watch the French players,” he said.
EMMA RADUCANU
Murray described Emma Raducanu’s US Open title as “very special” after she became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in 44 years on Saturday.
Nine years after Murray won the first of his three Grand Slam titles at the US Open, 18-year-old Raducanu stunned the tennis world by beating fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez at Flushing Meadows.
Raducanu, the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam title, did not drop a set throughout the tournament.
“It was incredible what she did there,” said Murray, who himself ended Britain’s 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam champion when he beat Novak Djokovic in the 2012 final.
“What she did in New York was very special — a huge boost for British tennis — and gives, hopefully, the governing bodies an opportunity to capitalize on that, and get more and more kids involved in the sport,” Murray said.
Murray, who has long shouldered the burden of British tennis, said that he knew how good Raducanu was when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon earlier this year.
“I’ve spent a little bit of time around her on the practice court, but more so in the same building, training close to each other, and watching what she’s doing — and she’s obviously really, really good,” the former world No. 1 said.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS