Andy Murray branded a contentious poster of past and present Wimbledon greats a “disaster” as he highlighted the lack of prominence given to female players.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray was a notable absentee from the official All England Club artwork which features 15 famous players walking down a staircase.
Young pair Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – neither of whom have made an impact at the Championships yet – stand in the foreground of the painting, followed by a selection of “epic” rivalries, beginning with Murray’s long-time competitors Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Of the six women depicted, only Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova are among the front 11 players, with the other four, including Serena and Venus Williams, at the back.
While Murray’s uncle and brother criticised his exclusion, the Scot insisted that is not the issue as he spoke about the poster for the first time since its release.
With a smile, he initially said: “It was a disaster, wasn’t it? I don’t need to elaborate any more on it, it’s pretty obvious if you see the poster.”
Asked about four of the front five groups of rivals being men, he continued: “That was what was slightly strange.
“I guess the players that are on the poster are ones that have had incredible careers and have been unbelievably successful at Wimbledon.
“But elsewhere are some of the greatest players of all time.
“For me, Alcaraz and Sinner are unbelievable players but it just seems strange that they were all sort of behind them.
“I personally don’t really care that much about it. But I can see when you look at it’s like, ‘that does look a bit strange’.
“Me not being on it is certainly not a problem.”
Murray’s final warm-up ahead of Wimbledon ended in a 6-4 6-4 loss to world number six world number six Holger Rune at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic.
The 36-year-old, who is ranked 39th, goes into his home slam unseeded and awaiting his fate in Friday’s draw.
While he would relish another meeting with reigning champion Djokovic before the end of his career, Murray is keen to avoid star names in the early rounds, albeit he is ready for that scenario.
“Ideally that wouldn’t happen right at the beginning,” he said of facing a top seed. “I would obviously want that to happen probably later in the tournament.
“But at the same time, because of the situation, I need to be prepared for that. I need to be ready to play against anyone right from the start.
“I’ve had some pretty tough first-round draws in the slams over the last couple of years so I need to to be ready for that and I think I am.
“Obviously, I would love to play against Novak again. I can’t remember the last time we played. It’s a long time ago.”
Murray moved well on court against 20-year-old Dane Rune at the Hurlingham Club but could not capitalise on his chances as he slipped to defeat.
Prior to last week’s first-round exit at Queen’s Club, he had won 10 successive matches in claiming back-to-back grass-court titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.
“Form-wise, I think has been good,” he said of his recent displays. “There are some positive signs there.
“Maybe the other players would see it differently but I don’t think there are loads of guys that would want to draw me in the first round. That’s a good place to be.”
Djokovic keeps Serbia on track as Ruud seals Norway win
Novak Djokovic marked his return to action with a dominant 6-0 6-1 victory over Greece's Ioannis Xilas to put Serbia in control of the Davis Cup tie.
The 24-time major winner was playing his first match since his US Open third-round defeat by Alexei Popyrin at Flushing Meadows a fortnight ago.
And Djokovic, who helped his nation win the Davis Cup in 2010, looked close to his best as he dropped just a single game, while converting five of the seven break points he forced.
Wrapping up a dominant victory in just 45 minutes, he put Serbia 2-0 to the good in the World Group I tie.
Elsewhere in that group, Casper Ruud helped Norway wrap up a 3-1 win over Portugal.
The three-time major finalist, who put his nation 2-1 to the good alongside Viktor Durasovic in the doubles rubber, was a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victor over Jaime Faria in their singles clash.
Later in the day, Argentina booked their place in the final eight after Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni saw off Finland in the doubles decider.
Nadal unsure of future involvements after Laver Cup withdrawal
Rafael Nadal says he cannot commit himself to future tournaments after his withdrawal from the Laver Cup.
Nadal shared news on Thursday that he would not make an appearance at the annual event in Berlin, stating that it would not be in the best interests of Team Europe if he were to participate.
The Spaniard was last in action playing doubles at the Paris Olympics with Carlos Alcaraz, and while he says he is in a good space mentally, he was not able to confirm when he would next make a professional appearance on a tennis court.
He said: "Mentally, I’m good, no problems. I'm at home enjoying other things, training as much as I can every day.
"No drama, obviously these are decisions [the Laver Cup withdrawal] that are being made, and this was a possibility - it's been a while without competing. There will be someone else who can do better.
"Right now I’m not in a position to put myself down for anything.
"I said [I would play] until the Olympics and then we would see, and I'm in that period of rest."
Nadal has endured a difficult 2024 so far, playing just 21 competitive singles matches with a record of 13-8.
He has only one grand slam victory to his name this year, beating Jack Draper in the Australian Open, but he lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz sends Spain into Davis Cup last eight
Carlos Alcaraz has led Spain to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Finals after a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.
The 21-year-old needed just one hour and 21 minutes to cruise through with a 6-3 6-3 victory, hitting 21 winners to his opponent's 14 as he backed up Roberto Bautista's win earlier on.
Bautista had to come from behind to edge past Arthur Fils, beating him 2-6 7-5 6-3, and converting 40% of his break points, bettering the Frenchman's 27%.
Spain are through in Group B, but elsewhere in Group D, US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper's return was unable to inspire Great Britain to victory.
Dan Evans was beaten by Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier on Friday before Draper's first match since New York ended in a straight-sets 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.
Despite making fewer unforced errors than the Argentinian (23 to 39), the British number one struggled to find an edge, though Evans and Neal Skupski claimed a consolation win in the doubles to make it 2-1.
They sit second in the group, missing the chance to qualify for the last eight, and now needing a win against Canada, who have been in fine form so far.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
