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Sharapova? Flipkens? Billie Jean King!? - who should Murray play mixed doubles with at Wimbledon?
Andy Murray spoke about searching for a Wimbledon mixed doubles partner in his BBC Sport column and tennis stars from around the globe have answered his call.
Like everyone's favourite part of Love Island, the former world number one now seemingly has no shortage of players to couple up with.
Murray, who made a winning return from surgery with Feliciano Lopez in the men's doubles at Queen's, said his offer to team up with French Open champion Ashleigh Barty was turned down.
Barty said no because she was already playing singles and women's doubles at Wimbledon but when asked whether she would play with Murray in the future, she said "we'll wait and see".
"It was probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make to say no," Barty explained. "When a champion like Andy asks you to play... I tried to justify it in my mind in so many ways but it just couldn't happen this time.
"I'm sure he's got a million girls lined up and he can take his pick."
Barty is not wrong - plenty of players have offered to step in. The question is, who will he choose? Here are the contenders so far...
The fellow Brit
In a move resembling Wes' shocking switch from Laura to Meg in last season's Love Island, Britain's Naomi Broady has offered to abandon her own brother Liam to team up with Murray.
Cold Naomi, cold.
The former champion
None other than five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova also offered her services to Murray.
She retweeted a video of her in mixed doubles action posted by the US Open, saying: "I heard Andy Murray was looking for a mixed dubs partner. Thanks US Open for sending in my resume today."
The old flame
Murray played doubles with Belgian Kirsten Flipkens at the All England Club in 2006 and now she is offering her racquet to the two-time Wimbledon champion again.
The 33-year-old tweeted: "Wimbledon 2006, Wimbledon 2019, Andy Murray?"
The legend
Tennis legend Billie-Jean King may be 75 years old, but why let that stop you when the chance to play with Andy Murray is up for grabs?
King has 39 Grand Slam singles titles - including 27 in doubles - to her name, with the last of these coming in 1980, and told Murray on Twitter she was "available and lacing up".
The all-rounder
Australian Barty said she could not play with Murray because she was already competing in the singles and women's doubles at SW19, but one of her old doubles partners has stepped up.
American Coco Vandeweghe, who has enjoyed success in both singles and doubles and won the US Open with Barty last year, has been struggling with a foot injury but said: "I'll come out of injury reserve for this. Sorry Ashleigh Barty."
Decisions, decisions. Of course, he might go with someone else altogether.
Roger Federer survived a mid-match scare to beat Roberto Bautista Agut in the Halle Open quarter-finals but world number five Alexander Zverev was knocked out by Belgium's David Goffin.
Federer, chasing a 10th Halle title, beat the Spaniard 6-3 4-6 6-4 to reach the semi-finals for a 15th time.
He faces Pierre-Hugues Herbert next after 2018 champion Borna Coric had to retire because of a back injury.
German Zverev served nine double faults as he lost 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3) to Goffin.
Eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer also dropped a set against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round.
"My body is reacting well to the grass, so I would prefer the matches to be shorter," he said. "But if not, it's no problem. I have enough time to recover before Wimbledon."
Home favourite Zverev, 22, has struggled with a swollen knee after slipping and hurting himself in the first round and will hope to rediscover his form and fitness in time for the beginning of Wimbledon on 1 July.
Goffin will face Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals after the Italian overcame Russian third seed Karen Khachanov 6-2 7-6 (7-4).
Murray doubles quarter-final halted because of bad light
Andy Murray will return on Saturday to complete his doubles quarter-final at Queen's Club after his second comeback match was halted because of bad light.
Murray and Spanish partner Feliciano Lopez led British duo Dan Evans and Ken Skupski 6-4 4-5 when they were called off at 20:50 BST.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, 32, is making his return in London five months after career-threatening hip surgery.
The match will resume after the singles semi-finals, which start at 13:00 BST.
Should Murray go on to win, the semi-final will be played straight after but he will not face his elder brother after Jamie Murray and fellow Briton Neal Skupski lost their last-eight match 7-5 7-6 (8-6) to Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
Lopez, 37, faces the possibility of playing three matches in a row - he takes on Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second singles semi-final at the Fever-Tree Championships.
But there is only a maximum of three games and a potential champions tie-break still to play in the doubles quarter-final.
Murray continues to impress
Murray and his playing partner Lopez had to wait until 19:40 BST to get on to a still-packed centre court on the longest day of the year.
They were quickly into their stride, with the Scot showing no ill-effects from his first comeback match on Thursday.
The three-time Grand Slam winner, who is due to play in the doubles at Eastbourne next week and then Wimbledon the following week, moved well throughout as he looks to build his match fitness before a possible return to singles later in the year.
The duo secured the first break of serve in the seventh game and former world number one Murray followed it up with a straightforward service hold.
With Lopez's swinging left-handed serve causing problems to their opponents, the Spaniard quickly wrapped up the first set after 29 minutes.
Evans and Skupski - who like Murray and Lopez are another fledging partnership - warmed to the challenge in the second set.
After Murray was warned for a time violation, Evans broke his fellow Briton's serve with a superb forehand pass down the line to open a 3-1 lead.
But with Murray producing some brilliant returns and one outstanding lob, the British-Spanish team took their chance to break Evans' serve.
However, after a discussion between the players there was to be no more play and they left the court.
PONTOON BEACH, Ill. — Saturated grounds at Tri-City Speedway — and more rain coming down — has forced DIRTcar officials to postpone Friday’s Summer Nationals event to June 25.
More information will be announced soon regarding the reschedule date.
The Hell Tour will get back in action on Saturday, June 22 at Fairbury Speedway for another $10,000-to-win show before leaving the Prairie State for Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., on Sunday, June 23 and Clarksville Speedway on Monday, June 24.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series’ inaugural Triple Truck Challenge concludes its three-race run Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
If the final event holds true to its two-race lead-in, there will be no shortage of drama and big news.
Brett Moffitt and GMS Racing stand to pick up a $150,000 bonus if the defending series champion wins for the second consecutive week.
The runner-up at Iowa, Moffitt was awarded the victory after apparent winner Ross Chastain’s truck was deemed illegal in post-race inspection. That verdict was upheld again on appeal this week.
Moffitt acknowledged he didn’t lead a lap in his win – the first by a disqualification in the history of the series – but welcomed the victory nonetheless, posting photos on social media of his team celebrating.
“This is a big change of emotions,” Moffitt said after being called to speak to the press following Chastain’s disqualification. “As a race car driver, I got beat on track and that’s not how you want to do it. … but I’ll take a win any way I can get it.
“It is what it is,” he continued. “We finally got a win that we needed and we’ll take it.”
And, he reminded, the big money from the Triple Truck Challenge was a nice companion to his first trophy of the season.
Saturday night’s CarShield 200 presented by CK Power is a sort of reset for everyone, with another huge paycheck on the line. If someone other than Moffitt wins, that driver still earns a $50,000 bonus as part of the Triple Truck Challenge incentive.
With the playoffs looming, it’s go-time for multiple reasons. The big incentive from series sponsor Gander Outdoors is icing on the cake.
Chastain, for example, now needs to win again and break into the top-20 in the standings to make the playoffs. He only declared himself Gander Trucks championship-eligible two races ago (before Texas) and sits 69 points behind the 20th place cutoff.
A victory this week would be a strong statement from his Niece Motorsports team.
Looking especially strong in recent weeks is Matt Crafton, a two-time Gander Trucks champion, who moved into second in the series driver standings last week at Iowa.
Crafton trails championship leader Grant Enfinger by 47 points and holds a slim two-point edge over third place Stewart Friesen.
Crafton drove the No. 88 ThorSport Ford to back-to-back pole positions at Kansas and Charlotte earlier this season. He has nine top-10 finishes in the season’s opening 10 races, including the last seven consecutively.
He was a season best runner-up in Texas in the Triple Truck Challenge opener two weeks ago, but he’s had only one top five in the last five races at Gateway – including three DNFs.
In two previous starts at Gateway, NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series point leader Grant Enfinger won the pole position last year and scored a best showing of fifth place in 2017. He’s finished top-10 in nine of 10 races this year – his worst finish is 11th at Vegas.
Enfinger was runner-up at the Daytona season-opener and has finished fourth in the opening two races of the Triple Truck Challenge.
There is plenty of motivation across the Gander Trucks field. Moffitt is the only driver ranked among the top-six in the championship standings with a victory.
There are no former Gateway race winners entered this week, but Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland finished second last year and is still looking for his first series victory.
As far as Moffitt’s concerned, being awarded the victory last week following a competitor’s disqualification is not the same thing as taking the checkered flag after beating the field.
With that said, he remains as driven as ever, if not even more so.
“It’s a place I like and GMS Racing has proven its strong there,” Moffitt said of Gateway. “We’re looking forward to it and winning that 150 grand.”
PITTSBORO, Ind. – Brian VanMeveren’s quest for the USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Award is off to a good start.
To this point, the St. Paul, Minn. racer leads the rookie-of-the-year standings by 18 markers roughly one-third through the season.
While earning rookie-of-the-year honors is a goal of VanMeveren’s this year, he is more worried about getting more seat time and improving each and every night.
Last weekend, VanMeveren made the trek out east for the Eastern Storm swing with the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Cars. The five-race swing was trimmed to three due to a pair of rainouts.
VanMeveren was in action Tuesday, June 11 at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Penn., Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, N.J. on Wednesday, June 12, followed by a visit to Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Penn. on Saturday, June 15.
The highlight of the weekend was VanMeveren’s charge from 22nd to 15th in the main event on Saturday.
“The last two were our strongest races. We changed up our setup after the first night and that really helped,” said VanMeveren. “I got some good seat time and I think that was the biggest take away from the weekend.
“It was a good learning experience and a lot of fun,” VanMeveren continued. “The biggest thing we are struggling with right now is finding a consistent crew who are able to come to the races week in and week out. I just need to find that guy I can mesh with and work well with.”
Whan: ANA-ANWA plan a work in progress, co-existing again in 2020
CHASKA, Minn. – The ANA Inspiration will co-exist on the same week as the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for at least one more year, LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said Friday.
The ANA Inspiration will be played April 2-5 at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 2020 with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur once again overlapping – the final round of the ANWA’s 54-hole event to be played on April 4 at Augusta National.
“Still not ready to commit that that’s the long-term answer to the ANA,” Whan said.
Whan outlined challenges that arise trying to move the ANA dates, with venue conflicts and TV issues complicating change, but the LPGA continues to study its options. The biggest downside in continuing to share the week with Augusta National, Whan said, is the media attention the ANWA diverts from the ANA.
“I still believe, and maybe I’m the one with the rose-colored glasses, but I still believe if we get it right long term, with the Augusta-ANA combination, we are going to create a weekend that’s really going to be a celebration, not that it wasn’t this year,” Whan said. “I think we can continue to live there.”
Whan is working with ANA as the title sponsor, and with IMG as event management, to map out possible new dates, but there are daunting obstacles.
If they move the ANA Inspiration up one week, which means swapping dates with the Kia Classic, the LPGA would be pitted against the PGA Tour’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship. The ANA would lose the beefed-up TV coverage that Golf Channel gives the ANA in its current date.
“We would be tape delayed on three of the four nights and probably have nine or 10 hours of TV instead of 26 hours,” Whan said.
The LPGA won’t move the ANA a week later, because then it’s up against the Masters. If the LPGA moves the ANA two weeks later, it conflicts with the immensely popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, with hotel rates in Palm Springs skyrocketing and with volunteers difficult to find as so many residents make their summer migration away from the area.
Whan said there’s conflict with Mission Hills in trying to play the ANA two weeks earlier.
Whan conceded sharing the date with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Augusta National’s Drive, Chip and Putt competition divert media focus from the ANA.
“I’ve said to players, I get stuck in my own little world of solving,” Whan said. “But if you had asked me as a fan, before I was the commissioner . . . how can this be bad for anybody? A lot of people were talking about women’s golf all weekend, no matter what they were talking about. Because that’s true, this thing can live together long term. I don’t know that it will from a date perspective. I have to make sure ANA believes that as much as I do. But I think it’s possible.”
Simon says? More like Stevie says: Day (63) hits range because Williams told him to
CROMWELL, Conn. – After a second-round 63 Friday at the Travelers, Jason Day announced that he was going back to the range.
In the rain.
Just like he did after his round Thursday.
Day began a new partnership last week with caddie Steve Williams, a move meant to refocus the former No. 1 and major winner, who said at Pebble Beach that he has “severely underachieved” in his career to date.
So now, when he walks off the golf course, he might not be done for the day. It’s up to Stevie.
“Yeah, yeah, pretty much when he asks you to do something you pretty much do it,” Day said. “I went and chipped some, I hit balls on the range, and then I putted. So right now I'm not pleased with how things have progressed so far with regards to my year.
“And since having Steve on the bag we've definitely been a lot more disciplined about going to the range and putting green, chipping green after the round and making sure we're staying on top of it, especially with our feels.”
After rounds of 70-63, Day is 7 under for the week at TPC River Highlands, four off the 11-under lead held by Zack Sucher at the end of the morning wave.
In 15 starts this season Day has racked up five top-10s and 10 top-25s, but he hasn’t won in over a year, since last May’s Wells Fargo Championship. While he and Williams would obviously like to put a win on the board before the end of this season, Day says they’re really “focused on 2020.”
So when Williams tells him he isn’t done working, then he isn’t done working.
“He's very black and white,” Day said. “Yeah, we're going to go over and hit some chips, hit some putts, just get out of here. Because it is starting to get a little bit wet. It's raining here now.”
Spieth (MC) says getting ballstriking under control will 'just take time'
CROMWELL, Conn. – Standing in the rain behind the clubhouse at TPC River Highlands on Friday, Jordan Spieth seemed a little lost.
Following rounds of 73-69, Spieth was wrapping up an early exit from the Travelers Championship, where he missed a cut for the first time since March.
“I mean, just no parts of my game were where I wanted them to be,” he said.
In spite of wayward ballstriking, Spieth had been finding ways to score in recent weeks, putting up three straight top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship, Charles Schwab Challenge and Memorial.
But even he was willing to admit Friday those finishes were smoke and mirrors.
“The results from the other week were strictly really putting,” he said. “It was putting and chipping. I still hit the ball below average for the field those weeks; [I] just made up for it.
“I just really need to improve on my ball striking.”
Spieth this year is 197th on Tour in driving accuracy and 172nd in greens in regulation. If he wasn’t seventh in in strokes gained: putting, his already-well-publicized struggles would be attracting even more attention.
After racking up 14 worldwide wins, including three majors, in his first five years as a pro, he is mired in a nearly two-year drought, dating back to the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale.
Spieth has spent much of that time fighting his golf swing. He’s been optimistic at times that he’s heading in the right direction, but the dynamic he described Friday sounded the same as it has for over a year.
“The things I've been working on are so drastic that it's just really difficult to try and play through it, I guess,” he said.
He anticipates grinding hard on his game ahead of The Open, but isn’t sure whether he’ll play again before the year’s final major.
“I may or may not play the John Deere,” he said. “I'm kind of up in in the air right now. I’m not sure.”
But he is sure of what he needs to work on.
“I need to gain significant control of the golf ball tee to green,” he said. “Fortunately, now I’ve got time to just do reps and overdo the reps and pull the string back together to get the clubs set and tracking right where it's been when I've been the best in the world tee to green.
“So it'll just take time. Just like the putting did last year, and then it came around. You know, it's just a little off and I need to get it back.”
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