Nottingham Open: Andy Murray wins plaudits as race for Wimbledon seed hots up

Andy Murray continued his fine grass preparation ahead of Wimbledon by cruising into the second road of the Nottingham Open. The 36-year-old won the Surbiton Trophy on Sunday and followed it up with a first-round Nottingham Open win against Belgium's Joris de Loore in straight sets.

Murray looked confident as he secured a 6-3 6-4 win and lined up a fixture with Frenchman Hugo Grenier, who beat Brit Jan Choinski in straight sets.

The double Wimbledon winner is set to return to the grand slam this summer and is looking to improve on recent showings which saw him knocked out in the second round last year and third round in 2021. The last time Murray made a Wimbledon Quarter Final was in 2017 with his last final coming in 2016, which he won.

Murray is ranked 44th in the world and is bidding to secure a top-32 seed for Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, July 3. The tennis star said: "I want to go as deep as possible here to try to get close to a seed for Wimbledon.

"That's my goal, so hopefully I can get a bit closer. The courts here are more similar to how Wimbledon plays in the second week so hopefully, I can get to the second week of that. It was tricky, very blustery conditions. I'm serving well and that helped me out.

"The main thing is to get as many matches played in different conditions against different types of opponents. He was a really big server but I made it through."

Elsewhere at the Nottingham Open, Brits Liam Broady and Arthur Fery won their opening fixtures but had to come back from a set down. Compatriots Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage advanced in the women's event.

Boulter's triumph comes as her first since replacing Emma Raducanu as British number one this week with the former US Open winner currently recovering from hand and ankle surgery.

Boulter sits at 126 in the world rankings, two places above Raducanu, and reacted to becoming her country's number one on Instagram earlier this week. She wrote: "Been mulling over whether I was going to post this today.

"It's not my highest ranking nor my best career moment however someone reminded me today that this little girl would be proud if I told her she would be British number 1 one day. Whether it be for one minute, one day or one year, it's not my biggest goal but shows I'm heading in the right direction. Now I've got work to do as my main goals are pending."