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Murray backs change in 'wildcard entries' to Wimbledon

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ANI Johanneburg

British ace Andy Murray has supported the Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) decision to amend criteria for awarding wildcard entries to Wimbledon.

Earlier, British players ranked inside the top 250 were given a free pass into Wimbledon's main draw and often performed miserably in the grass court Grand Slam.

However, the guideline has now been scrapped and Wimbledon wild cards will be handed out on a case-by-case basis when the first batch will be announced this week, ahead of the start of Wimbledon on June 29.

As well as ranking, the LTA now will assess intangibles such as 'attitude, professionalism, game development and recent form'

 

The 2013 Wimbledon champion, however, backed the decision, and said he had no problem with it being done on an individual basis rather than having any set criteria, Sport24 reported.

The world number three said some guys could be ranked inside 250 and have terrible attitudes and some players could have fantastic attitudes and maybe are just outside.

He also said some guys play much better on grass than others, so may have more of an opportunity to win matches (at Wimbledon).

However, he insisted that there are some young guys who are ranked 280, 300 in the world and were very good for their age and might deserve a chance.

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First Published: Jun 18 2015 | 2:08 PM IST

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