Jamie Murray – younger brother of Britain’s number one Andy Murray – has been given a wild card for this year’s Liverpool International to be held in June.
It is a great opportunity for the 19 year old Scot, as he will gain valuable grass court practice before trying to qualify for Wimbledon and the opportunity to test his skills against some of the ATP’s higher ranking players.
Murray promises to follow in his older brothers footsteps and give Britain hope for a future British Wimbledon champion. Anders Borg, Tournament Director comments, “My real drive behind the tournament is to help younger players who are trying to break through onto the tour, hopefully our tournament can help Jamie’s career as he relies heavily on opportunities like this to improve his game and gain valuable experience.
“l saw him play before Christmas and ahis talent shone through, sometimes all the players need to become a winner is some self confidence and by having the opportunity to play against players ranked in the top 50 on the ATP tour such as Malisse and Spadea it can only benefit his career”.
Murray is delighted with the wild card and is particularly excited about meeting the tournaments main attraction, Goran Ivanisevic. “It will be great to meet Goran and watch him play, maybe even come up against him although saying that I wouldn’t really want to face his serve! He’s a legend in tennis and a fan favourite wherever he goes, it’s great he’s back playing in Britain again.
“The wild card is a great opportunity for me to compete against some of the top players in the world and will be a chance for me to see where I need to improve in my game. It’s not something I get to do every week!”, Jamie Murray.
Over the next few months Murray hopes to improve his rankings on the tour, already an accomplished doubles player, he wants to start concentrating on his singles ranking and break into the top 100 in the next 18 months.
Asked if his brother would be at Liverpool to support him, he comments, “If he doesn’t play at Stella or gets knocked out, you never know!”
The 2006 Liverpool International Tennis Tournament runs from 13th – 18th June. For further information about the event and ticket enquiries, telephone 0151 227 5940 or visit www.liverpooltennis.co.uk