Jamie Murray has spoken out on his frustration at the LTA for not giving Scottish enough funding ahead of the Glasgow Challenger event. 

The seven-time grand slam champion is getting ready for the Murray Trophy in Glasgow which begins this week where he will be competing.

However one of the concerns right now is the lack of funding it is receiving despite the success of the Murray brothers, who have won a combined ten grand slams between them.

Ahead of the event in Glasgow, the doubles specialist think more can be done to capitalise on their success, “I think so. Certainly from what we’ve achieved over the last however many years, going back to our junior days of playing,” Murray said to STV News.

“If you think about the Scottish players that have represented us in Davis Cup and won ties, I would say they do (deserve more funding), We’re a country after all, not a county.

“Things could have been better over the last ten years to make the most of what Andy has been achieving. Up here Tennis Scotland are doing their best to take things forward. We haven’t always had the best deal from the money that the LTA gets to hand out to Tennis Scotland.”

It’s certainly an issue that has been raging on for the last few years that both Andy and Jamie Murray have been very passionate about.

But only time will tell whether the Lawn Tennis Association listen to the concerns of the two men have been responsible for Great Britain’s recent tennis success.

As for Murray he will be partnering John-Patrick Smith in the event, which is taking place this week and is looking to continue his momentum after winning the US Open mixed doubles title.

Now for the Brit, his main goal is to win Wimbledon as he looks to achieve more doubles success, “It’s been exciting for me in the last few years to go to these level of tournaments and feel you’ve got a genuine chance to win,” Murray admitted.

“For me, Wimbledon would be the biggest goal until the end of my career, to win the men’s doubles. It didn’t work out for me this year but next year. There’s always next year.”

The team of former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro has denied that he has been involved in talks with Kosmos to play in the revamped Davis Cup later this year.

It had been claimed by Kosmos founder Gerard Pique that the Argentine has been in negotiations about playing the event, which has undergone a change in format. In November 18 teams will travel to Madrid to play in a week-long group competition. Similar to that of the football World Cup. A move that has divided opinion in the sport with critics arguing that the change is too radical.

“We are talking with Del Potro, (but) it obviously depends on the injury, see how he returns. But yes, we are in permanent contact with him.” Ubitennis’ Spanish-language site quoted Pique as saying.

Pique, who plays football for Barcelona F.C, was caught on audio saying the statement. However, it has now been suggested that he has either misspoken on even lied about del Potro. A statement issued by Del Potro’s communications team stated that no such thing has happened.

“TeamDelpo clarifies that there were no negotiations between the Kosmos Group and Juan Martin del Potro about the next Davis Cup in Madrid.” Their statement reads.
“We deny in this way the journalistic versions that speak of economic arrangements, “approaches”, “departures” or “concrete offers.”

The 30-year-old hasn’t played a match on the ATP Tour since injuring his knee at the Fever-Tree Championships in June. The latest setback for the injury-stricken player, who has undergone five surgeries since 2014. Del Potro is set to start his latest comeback in Europe at the Swedish Open, which will start on October 14th.

It has been rumoured that during the Davis Cup finals, Del Potro could play Roger Federer in an exhibition match in his home country on November 20th. Federer is another high-profile absentee from the team event. The potential clash has been reported by Argentinian journalist Danny Miche in his podcast. However, it is understood that nothing is finalised as of yet due to various economic factors.

There has been no response so far from Kosmos regarding Del Potro’s statement.

 

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De vuelta en una cancha! 🙌💪🔨🎾 . . Hitting again!

A post shared by Juan Martin del Potro (@delpotrojuan) on Sep 12, 2019 at 9:33am PDT

The next instalment of the Hong Kong Open has been put on hold after authorities decided to postpone the tournament due to mass protests taking place in the region.

Hong Kong has been rocked by unrest in recent weeks with many protesting against a controversial extradition bill that was put forward. Where residents of Hong Kong could be tried for their crimes in mainland China. The area has been a Special Administrative Region of China since 1997 after sovereignty was transferred from Britain. The bill has since been scrapped, however, protests for greater democratic reform are ongoing.

“As the winner of the WTA International event of the year award in 2018, we strive to maintain a high standard of the event for all participants, players and the fans in particular. However, after extensive discussions with our key stakeholders, we conclude that a smooth running of the tournament can be better assured at a later time.” A statement reads.
“The event organisers and WTA are in active discussion on identifying an alternate week for the hosting of the event. Further announcements will be made in due course.”

The tournament is currently held in Victoria Park, which was named after Queen Victoria. The park has become one of the rallying points where anti-government protesters gather. Other sports events and concerns have also been affected by the unrest in recent times. Both the Hong Kong ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup and the Asian Aquathlon Championships were cancelled over safety concerns.

It is unclear as to when the Hong Kong Open will be moved to or if it will take place at all in 2019. Discussions are currently ongoing with the WTA. Originally it was set to get underway on October 7th. Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Dayana Yastremska are former champions of the event. It has been a regular fixture on the calendar since 2014.

Last year, more than 70,000 people attended the weeklong tournament, according to tournament figures.

Two WTA events will still take place during the week commencing October 7th. They will be in Linz, Austria and Tianjin, China.