By Matt Hardy
Andy Murray edged closer to a Wimbledon seed with his third Challenger title of the year at the Nottingham Open.
The former British No1 backed up Challenger Tour wins on clay in France and on grass at Surberton at the Nottingham Open to leave him on the cusp of a favourable draw at tennis’ third Grand Slam of the year.
One win at Queen’s, which begins on Monday, could be enough to earn Murray a seed at the All England Club but two wins is sure to get him over the line.
Murray missed this year’s French Open to focus on the grass court season in hopes of getting seeded for Wimbledon and his win in Nottingham – topped off with a straight sets 6-4 6-4 win against frenchman Arthur Cazaux – will help him in that quest.
The Scot hasn’t won a Grand Slam since his 2016 triumph at Wimbledon and has spent many of the subsequent years injured, but this year’s three wins on the Challenger Tour will undoubtedly be a positive for the All England Club given the absence of Emma Raducanu this year.
The 36-year-old’s children were present at his win in the East Midlands.
“I didn’t know they were here,” he said after the win. “I had no idea they were coming.
“They came last week for the final at Surbiton, they turned up and it started raining then they had to go home for the kids’ bedtime and they missed the end of the match so it’s great they could come today.”
The Challenger marks two tournament wins in a week for the Brit after seven years without a tournament win on grass.
Wimbledon gets underway on 3 July.
