Despite what he says, it is clear Andy Murray feels slightly guilty about leaving it until the very last minute to decide whether or not he will play singles at Wimbledon. He shouldn’t.
As he rather sheepishly says: “Maybe it’s my ego getting in the way but I feel I deserve the opportunity to give it until the very last moment to make that decision.” Ha. If there is one thing - perhaps the only thing - Murray has lacked in his fantastic sporting career, it is ego.
Occasionally, his behaviour on court might not be to everyone’s taste but, away from it, he has always been refreshingly self-deprecating. You would think the idea of having a statue at SW19 - as suggested by John McEnroe - horrifies him.
Sometimes, it is hard to tell when Murray is injured and when he isn’t but if he does take his place in the singles draw, it is obvious he will not be 100 per cent fit.
He will almost certainly not be fit enough to beat the player ranked number 36 in the world, Tomas Machac, the Hungarian who is scheduled to meet Murray on Tuesday. But whenever he says farewell to the Centre Court, it will be a very special occasion.
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In a way, Murray trying to defy the odds - doctors told him he would be out for a minimum of six weeks (and, more likely, 12) after he underwent back surgery last weekend - is a fitting way to bring down the final curtain on his Wimbledon career.
This is a sportsman who has been defying the odds for two decades. The odds against Britain producing a tennis player of Grand Slam-winning note had long been sizable when Murray went to Barcelona to pursue his dream.
And Murray - who also hopes to play in the doubles with brother Jamie over the next fortnight -then had to defy being in an era blessed with three of the greatest and most durable talents the sport has ever seen.
For Murray to win three Grand Slam titles - two Wimbledons and one US Open - and two Olympics singles titles in the era of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal is one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of British sport.
Andy Murray deserves a worthy send-off in tennis (Luke Walker/Getty Images)The argument over who is Britain’s greatest-ever sportsman or sportswoman will never have an emphatic winner but Murray is in the conversation. But what is truly great is his desire to be out there, competing.
And for the last few years, at least, he has been defying the odds in terms of battling physical setbacks. When Murray was winning titles, we wondered if it might inspire a new generation of British talent.
In truth, it didn’t, but in Jack Draper, the 22-year-old who has broken into the top 30, Wimbledon might just have a Brit who is the heir apparent to Murray.
Time will tell if Draper can step up to the plate that will be vacated by Murray and, for now, let’s just hope Andy can somehow defy the odds one last time, make it for one final singles campaign… and get the send-off he deserves.
Stokes spoke
When Ben Stokes speaks, you listen. The words of great sporting leaders carry serious weight.
“Jos (Buttler) is the man to lead that white-ball team forward,” said Stokes. “He is a great leader. He’s got the respect of all the team members in the dressing room.” That Buttler has the respect of the dressing room is beyond doubt.
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But what is also beyond doubt is that England were hammered by India in the T20 World Cup semi-final. That can happen - but England lost three of the four matches they played against other Test-playing nations.
Ben Stokes' words carry significant weight (Beanyman Sports)And that comes on the back of a miserable defence of their 50-over title last year when they won only three of their nine games in India. With the amount of talent at their disposal, that is underachievement of the highest order.
Buttler has enough to do with the bat and with the gloves, without having to execute the demanding job of marshalling a T20 fielding side and its bowling attack. It has proved too much for him and a change would do him and England’s white-ball team good.
Gordon Bennett
Despite qualifying for the knockout stages of Euro 2024 as group winners, there has been an air of defensiveness around Gareth Southgate’s camp here in Germany, mainly brought on by the widespread criticism of the team’s performances.
A lot of media appearances have followed a script, which is often the case at major tournaments. This script is about getting the job done in the group stages and kicking on, about highlighting the fact that there have been many tournament winners who have struggled for early form.
Anthony Gordon cut his face falling off a bike (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)It has all been a bit predictable. And then along came Anthony Gordon, giving a colourful account of his spectacular bike crash. You shouldn’t really laugh. He could have been seriously injured and he was hardly setting a responsible example by trying to take a video of himself while riding quickly downhill.
But Gordon was infectious, he was amusing, he was bullish, he was fun, he was super-confident and he was relaxed. And my guess is that if England manage to go really deep in this tournament, Gordon will play a significant part. Mood can play a big role, and Gordon - bike crash or no bike crash - is the type to lift it.
Remember the name
Here's a name to watch out for this summer. Kishane Thompson.
He is only 22, is in his second season as a professional athlete and had not raced this year until appearing in the Jamaican Olympic trials on Friday. Ahead of the 100m race, his coach told him to go flat out for 60 metres and then ease off and Thompson did just that. He won the race in a time of 9.77 seconds, making him the ninth-fastest man in history. Kishane Thompson. Remember the name.
Share your own experience of playing tennis in the UK in the comments section
First class post
@Carra23 “Another very poor performance from England, Southgate will be rightly questioned about why he can’t get more from this group of players... BUT this is about the players, they have to do more.”
Jamie Carragher responds to England’s performance against Slovenia last Tuesday … and he is spot on. Let’s hope they do more in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday evening.
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