Commonwealth Games snub is mystery to Murray

Scot disappointed tennis won’t feature at the Glasgow games.

Andy Murray already has a Wimbledon title and an Olympic gold medal. But he’s disappointed that he won’t have the chance to win a Commonwealth gold.

It is now less than a month until the Games begin, but Murray won’t be able to join the likes of Usain Bolt, Mo Farah and Sir Bradley Wiggins in taking part in Glasgow.

Tennis made its debut at the Commonwealths four years ago in Delhi, but has now been dropped. Murray didn’t play in Delhi, but his brother Jamie did represent Scotland. Now Andy is disappointed he can’t do the same in front of his home fans.

And he also rues the fact that tennis can’t establish itself as a Commonwealth sport in the same way it has done at the Olympics.

“I think it would have been nice if tennis was in Glasgow,” he admits. “I probably would have played as well if it had been.

“I’m not sure exactly why they got rid of the tennis, as they had a fairly good turnout at the last one.

“But with anything like this, if you take it out for a few years and then bring it back in, you don’t build that prestige of making the guys really want to play. So it’s a shame.”

Murray is in the middle of defending his Wimbledon crown, won so spectacularly 12 months ago, and he couldn’t have asked for a better opening week.

He is yet to drop a set, has only lost his serve twice and has barely looked troubled in racing into the last 16.

The Dunblane player has only spent a minute over five hours on court and has preserved plenty of energy ahead of the bigger tests to come, with Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitov both potential opponents if Murray is to reach the Final again.

But the first challenge is tomorrow against the giant South African Kevin Anderson.

Although he is seeded 20, Anderson is in unchartered territory, having reached this round at Wimbledon for the first time. Standing at 6ft 8ins, the 28-year-old will provide a considerable obstacle, and has beaten Murray once before in their two meetings.

“Kevin doesn’t serve as big as guys like Ivo Karlovic or John Isner, but he is better from the back of the court,” Andy acknowledges. “There might be more chances to break, but he will make balls when you are serving.

“I haven’t played him on grass before, so I don’t know how he moves on the surface. But he moved well on the hard courts. It was important in the first week to get the job done quickly and conserve energy.

“But if you just think everything will be the same as it was in the first week and think you are playing well enough, then you will have a problem because you are complacent.

“I’m aware that things against Kevin will be a lot tougher and of course there are going to be harder moments in the second week.”