Andy Murray criticises decision to remove ranking points from Wimbledon after easy Surbiton win
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Surbiton Trophy: Murray begins Wimbledon build-up with impressive win
Surbiton Trophy |
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Venue: Surbiton Racket and Fitness Club Dates: 30 May-5 June |
Coverage: Watch play on the main court on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. |
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says the ATP and WTA have not made "a great move" by taking away the tournament's ranking points this year.
The ATP and WTA made the decision after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from the event because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking after he thrashed Jurij Rodionov 6-2 6-1 in the first round of the Surbiton Trophy grass-court event on Monday, the British former world number one said: "They've taken points away - everyone's still showing up."
Former women's world number one Naomi Osaka suggested she might miss Wimbledon this year over the decision to remove ranking points but hers is a lone voice thus far.
"My belief is Wimbledon will go ahead and have an extremely strong player field," added Murray, who won the men's singles at SW19 in 2013 and 2016.
'The players will still turn up and play' - Murray on decision to remove Wimbledon's ranking points
"Removing the points, if it doesn't stop players from playing then I don't think it's a great move from the ATP. A lot of the players are frustrated and didn't want that to happen."
Men's world number two Daniil Medvedev, from Russia, and women's world number seven Aryna Sabalenka are among the players affected by the ban.
"I don't believe there's anyone at the ATP that supports what's happening in Ukraine," Murray said.
"I think they're trying to protect the players the best they can and that's the decision that they've taken. Some players are fine with the decision but I think the majority of them were not.
"I spoke to some of the Russian players in Madrid and I feel for those players as well. I like them and I'm friends with them and I don't believe they're in favour of what's happening [in Ukraine] either.
"But I appreciate that it's not that easy for them to talk about it publicly. It's a difficult one."
Murray starts strongly in Surbiton
Andy Murray had not played in the Surbiton Trophy since 2004 when he was aged 17
Having skipped the French Open to prioritise grass-court preparation, Murray took just 57 minutes to record a routine straight-set win over Austria's Rodionov, breaking serve twice in each set to comfortably beat the world number 125.
The Scot had not played since withdrawing from a third-round match with Novak Djokovic because of illness at the Madrid Open at the start of May.
But despite a rain delay pushing his match back to late afternoon, Murray, currently ranked 67th in the world, had little trouble despatching Rodionov.
With tournaments in Stuttgart and at Queen's Club to come in June, a string of wins could potentially push Murray into the Wimbledon seeding picture.
"I don't know how many matches I would need to win exactly, but if I had a good run at Queen's or next week that would give me a good chance," he said.
The all-British first-round encounter between Liam Broady and Jay Clarke has been pushed back to Tuesday after further rain caused play to be suspended for the day shortly after the end of Murray's match.
Fellow Briton Jack Draper also features in the men's draw while Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter are among those competing in the women's event.
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