Andy Murray on mend as he practises with Scots teenager
The three-time grand slam champion has not played competitively since exiting Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage last July, and he has since lost his British No 1 ranking to Kyle Edmund.
However, Murray underwent surgery earlier this year and said he was targeting the beginning of the grass-court season in June to make his comeback. However, he could return sooner and it is understood that two new Challenger tournaments – one at the Scotstoun Tennis Centre in Glasgow starting on 28 April and the other at Loughborough University the following month – are on his radar.
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Hide AdOn Wednesday he posted an image from his latest training session, with Scottish teenager Aidan McHugh.
Writing on Instagram, Murray wrote: “Chasing down another @aidymchugh error today during practice #progress #hip #unforced #youngpup”
McHugh, 17, from Glasgow, played at junior Wimbledon last year and has been mentored by Murray and his brother Jamie.
Meanwhile, American John Isner upset second-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (0), 6-3 to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals. The 14th-seeded Isner, who reached the Miami Open semifinals in 2015, never faced a break point in the match. He made an impressive 73 percent of his first serves to take down Cilic.
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Hide AdThe departure of Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion and Australian Open finalist in January, leaves fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany as the highest seed remaining in the draw.
Top-seeded Roger Federer lost his opening match at the tournament, and third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria lost in the third round.
Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, a definite crowd favorite in Latin-influenced South Florida, moved onto the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over 22nd-seeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia. Del Potro will play 20th-seeded Milos Raonic for a semifinal berth. Roanic defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4. Isner will play 19th-seeded Hyeon Chung of Korea in the quarterfinals. Chung defeated Joao Sousa of Portugal, 6-4, 6-3.
No 6 seed Jelena Ostapenko is through to the semi-finals of the women’s tournament in Miami. Ostapenko ousted fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina 7-6, 7-6 to reach the semi-finals at Key Biscayne for the first time. Next up for Ostapenko is either No 8 seed Venus Williams or qualifier Danielle Collins in the semi-finals.