Andy Murray reveals Wimbledon seeding target after Nottingham Open first round win

Andy Murray still has his sights set on being seeded at Wimbledon as he continued his strong start to the grass court season at the LTA’s Rothesay Open Nottingham.

Andy Murray celebrates a point against Joris De Loore in his Rothesay Open Nottingham first round match. Picture date: Tuesday June 13, 2023.

The top seed in Nottingham, Murray, 36, defeated unheralded Belgian Joris De Loore 6-3 6-4 in his tournament opener to make it six wins on a row on grass courts following his triumph at the LTA’s Lexus Surbiton Trophy last week – his first title on the surface since winning Wimbledon in 2016.

The two-time Wimbledon champion club currently sits 44th in the ATP Rankings, potentially 12 spots off being seeded at the All England Club barring withdrawals from anyone ranked higher than him.

Victory at the ATP Challenger event would in all likelihood push him inside the top 40, with an appearance at the Queen’s Club - where he holds a record five titles - his last chance to secure enough ranking points to be inside the top 32 ahead of the Wimbledon draw being made.

“That’s my goal here, I want to go as deep as possible and try and get close to being a seed at Wimbledon,” said Murray. “That’s my ultimate goal for the next few weeks so hopefully I’ll get a few more matches this week.

“I’ll have a nice day off, come in and try and get a bit more used to the conditions of the courts, rest up in the afternoon and get ready for a big push across the weekend.

“It was tricky, it was very blustery conditions and these courts play really nicely, but they’re quite different to the ones in Surbiton. I felt like I struggled a bit with my timing early on but I served well throughout the match and that helped me out.

“I think these courts play a bit more similar to how Wimbledon plays like in the second week, so hopefully I’m in the second week there. The main thing for me at the moment is getting as many matches as possible and playing in different conditions against all different styles of opponent.

“He [De Loore] was a really big server and really went after his groundstrokes across the match, he made it tough so I’m really glad to get through.”

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website