Murray’s Singles Bid Halted At Artois Championships

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Jamie Murray’s bid to qualify for his first ATP-level singles tournament ended at the first hurdle after the doubles specialist lost in the opening round of qualifying at the Artois Championships on Saturday.

Murray, who received a wild card into the qualifying draw from tournament organisers at The Queen’s Club, went down 7-5, 6-3 to Poland’s Lucasz Kubot.

“I was reasonably happy with the way I played,” said Murray. “I was a bit unsure of what it was going to be like. It’s good to get a match before the doubles, hit a lot of serves, a lot of returns, getting used to moving forward, so it was worthwhile.”

The 22-year-old from Dunblane, Scotland had his serve broken three times in the 1-hour, 17-minute match, and afterwards admitted that playing without regular doubles partner Max Mirnyi took some getting used to.

“The thing I struggled with most was serving, coming forward and having to cover the whole court instead of one half of it,” said Murray. “That was a bit strange but apart from that it wasn’t too bad.”

Murray does not have a singles ranking but is No. 31 in doubles with four titles and a Wimbledon mixed doubles championship to his name. And the Scot is hoping for more success at The Queen’s Club when the doubles competition starts later in the week.

“Doubles is where I make my career from,” added Murray. “This is a big tournament for us, we’re looking forward to playing here and trying to win some matches before Wimbledon obviously.”

Despite the singles setback, Murray is still hoping to get a wild card at The All England Club when the Championships begin on June 23.

“I’d love to play Wimbledon,” said Murray. “It would be very exciting to play in the tournament there and if I get the opportunity I would be very, very grateful.”