Andy Murray branded a contentious poster of previous and current Wimbledon greats a “catastrophe” as he highlighted the dearth of prominence given to feminine gamers.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray was a notable absentee from the official All England Membership art work which options 15 well-known gamers strolling down a staircase.
Younger pair Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – neither of whom have made an affect on the Championships but – stand within the foreground of the portray, adopted by a choice of “epic” rivalries, starting with Murray’s long-time rivals Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Of the six ladies depicted, solely Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova are among the many entrance 11 gamers, with the opposite 4, together with Serena and Venus Williams, on the again.
Whereas Murray’s uncle and brother criticised his exclusion, the Scot insisted that isn’t the difficulty as he spoke concerning the poster for the primary time since its launch.
With a smile, he initially mentioned: “It was a catastrophe, wasn’t it? I don’t must elaborate any extra on it, it’s fairly apparent in case you see the poster.”
Requested about 4 of the entrance 5 teams of rivals being males, he continued: “That was what was barely unusual.
“I suppose the gamers which might be on the poster are ones which have had unimaginable careers and have been unbelievably profitable at Wimbledon.
“However elsewhere are some of the best gamers of all time.
“For me, Alcaraz and Sinner are unbelievable gamers however it simply appears unusual that they had been all kind of behind them.
“I personally don’t actually care that a lot about it. However I can see whenever you take a look at it’s like, ‘that does look a bit unusual’.
“Me not being on it’s definitely not a downside.”
Murray’s remaining warm-up forward of Wimbledon resulted in a 6-4 6-4 loss to world quantity six world quantity six Holger Rune on the Giorgio Armani Tennis Traditional.
The 36-year-old, who’s ranked thirty ninth, goes into his residence slam unseeded and awaiting his destiny in Friday’s draw.
Whereas he would relish one other assembly with reigning champion Djokovic earlier than the top of his profession, Murray is eager to keep away from star names within the early rounds, albeit he’s prepared for that situation.
“Ideally that wouldn’t occur proper firstly,” he mentioned of going through a high seed. “I’d clearly need that to occur in all probability later within the match.
“However on the identical time, as a result of of the state of affairs, I have to be ready for that. I have to be able to play in opposition to anybody proper from the beginning.
“I’ve had some fairly powerful first-round attracts within the slams over the past couple of years so I must to be prepared for that and I believe I’m.
“Clearly, I’d like to play in opposition to Novak once more. I can’t bear in mind the final time we performed. It’s a very long time in the past.”
Murray moved properly on courtroom in opposition to 20-year-old Dane Rune on the Hurlingham Membership however couldn’t capitalise on his probabilities as he slipped to defeat.
Previous to final week’s first-round exit at Queen’s Membership, he had received 10 successive matches in claiming back-to-back grass-court titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.
“Type-wise, I believe has been good,” he mentioned of his current shows. “There are some constructive indicators there.
“Perhaps the opposite gamers would see it in another way however I don’t assume there are hundreds of guys that will wish to draw me within the first spherical. That’s a good place to be.”
