Andy Murray confirms he'll defend Queen's Club title

Murray is currently in training for another crack at the Australian Open. Picture: Getty

The world No2 has confirmed that he will defend the trophy he won for a fourth time last summer with victory over Kevin Anderson.

That made Murray the eighth four-time champion, joining the likes of John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, but no one has yet managed a fifth.

Murray, the champion in 2009, 2011, 2013 as well as 2015, said: “If I could win it a fifth time it would be amazing. The names that have won it four times – they are all great tennis players. I’ve played some of my best tennis at the Queen’s Club over the years.”

The 28-year-old made his debut at Queen’s in 2005 and used the club’s clay courts to prepare for November’s Davis Cup final. He is currently in Melbourne preparing fo r the first major of the season, the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.

Brother Jamie, meanwhile, enjoyed a winning start at the Apia International when he teamed up with doubles partner Bruno Soares to beat James Duckworth and John Millman in Sydney. Murray and Brazilian Soares won the first set 6-4 but fell 7-5 in the second against the Australian pair. A tie-break eventually saw Murray and Soares emerge 11-9 victors in the third to secure a second-round spot.

Another Scot, Colin Fleming, was also celebrating after beating Bob and Mike Bryan 7-5, 7-5 alongside doubles partner Jonathan Erlich of Israel. Broxburn-born Fleming helped to see off the 16-time men’s doubles Grand Slam champions in under an hour-and-a-half in their first-round clash.

Top seed Simona Halep made a safe passage into the women’s quarter-finals of the Apia International by beating Caroline Garcia 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Jelena Jankovic, though, suffered a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8) defeat to Italy’s Sara Errani while Svetlana Kuznetsova triumphed 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki.

Britain’s Johanna Konta and Heather Watson crashed out of the doubles at the Hobart International in the first round. Konta and Watson were beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Japan’s Misaki Doi and Nao Hibino.

Fellow British duo Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith also bowed out, going down 6-3, 6-0 to China’s Xinyun Han and America’s Christina McHale.

In the singles in Hobart, Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Alison Van Uytvanck.

British No 2 Aljaz Bedene retired hurt in the third set of his first-round tie with Sam Querrey in the ASB Classic in Auckland.

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