Andy Murray echoes Dan Evans rant after reaching Nottingham Open semi-finals

Andy Murray has offered his view on the current state of British tennis a few weeks after Dan Evans suggested that Emma Raducanu’s historic US Open triumph in 2021 merely papered over the cracks. Murray was speaking after reaching the Nottingham Open semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Dominic Stricker for his eighth successive victory to complete a British clean sweep at the tournament.

Murray, who is hoping to move into the world’s top 32 to be seeded for Wimbledon later this year, made light work of Stricker to set up a last-four meeting with Nuno Borges after wins for British trio Jodie Burrage, Katie Boulter and Heather Watson in the women’s event. He was quizzed on the success of his compatriots during his on-court interview and insisted that he is supporting them in their efforts to make the country proud in the face of recent criticism.

“I mean, obviously this week’s been great,” said Murray. “A couple of weeks ago we were hearing that British tennis wasn’t doing well. Things change a lot on a week-to-week basis. You just want all of the players to reach their potential and make sure everyone’s working hard.

“Not everyone is going to win Wimbledon and Grand Slams, things like that, but you just want to make sure everyone is making the most of this amazing opportunity to play tennis for a living. This week has obviously been brilliant.

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“The women have done extremely well this week and hopefully that continues through the year but, yeah, it should be a fun weekend for British tennis fans. It’s been rare that we’ve had so many people at the latter stages of big events, so enjoy it.”

Murray’s comments appeared to be referencing a blistering rant by Evans at the French Open last month, in which the 33-year-old slammed the state of British tennis and insisted that the current domestic setup does little to help the sport thrive on UK shores. He also claimed that the emergence of Raducanu, who did not play at Roland Garros after undergoing surgery on her hands and ankles, has masked the issues facing the game in Britain over the last few years.

Evans told reporters: “They’ve been lucky that they had a Grand Slam champion and she’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they? Men’s or women’s, the rankings don’t lie. Men’s, not many of us playing qualys, not many main draw. I don’t want to sound like a broken record but there’s way further to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.

“We’re in a massive, massive habit of sending people to college now. I don’t think that massively helps. It’ll be interesting. I think the grass last year really helped paper over some cracks as well. After the grass, there will be a bit of soul-searching I imagine, after their holidays.”

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