The Times Sport - UK (2020-08-01)

Andy Murray’s commitment to the US
Open does not mean that he feels no
apprehension about competing in New
York. The three-times grand-slam
champion believes that there should be
“severe repercussions” for players who
break health protocols and has
expressed mistrust over the UK
government’s travel advice.
While there are players who have
decided not to participate in the tour-
nament at Flushing Meadows from
August 31 to September 13 — the world
No 1 Ashleigh Barty is the most high-
profile absentee so far — Murray is pre-
paring for his first singles appearance at
a major since the 2019 Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour last
month, when nine people tested posi-
tive for the coronavirus, shows the
danger in players disregarding health
and safety, and Murray has called for
strong disciplinary action for any simi-
lar behaviour during the US Open.
“I think the majority of players will
[follow protocols] but it would be silly to
expect nobody would break the rules,”
Murray said. “In the NBA, for example,
which I think will be a similar set-up to
us, players have broken the rules, so we
should be preparing for that.
“That is where it is really important
that the repercussions should be quite
serious because you end up putting the
whole tour and event at risk. The USTA
[United States Tennis Association] is
going through a huge effort to try to get
this on and make it as safe as possible, so
if players aren’t abiding by the rules the
repercussions should be severe.”
Murray is particularly concerned
about the travel involved and has not
yet booked his flight to New York. The
response of the UK government to
the coronavirus pandemic has not
reassured him.
“I will have apprehensions about get-
ting there and getting on flights for the
first time in months,” Murray said. “It is
a difficult one because you don’t know
when the right time to start travelling

would be. Who do you listen to? Do you

trust everything the government is

telling you all the time? Probably not.

“You need to make your own decision

and I trust that the USTA will have

come up with a secure bubble for the

players. It is just the getting there that I

would be a bit concerned with.”

A busy schedule upon the resump-

tion of the ATP tour poses a particular

challenge for 33-year-old Murray after

having two operations on his right hip.

A rescheduled European clay-court

swing immediately follows the US

Open, leading into the French Open

from September 27 to October 11.

With potentially seven weeks of con-

secutive match play available for some

players, Murray foresees physical

issues for those who throw themselves

all in from the start of the Cincinnati

Open on hard courts on August 20. By

then, it will be more than five months

since anyone on the ATP tour has

Today

Football

FA Cup final: Arsenal v Chelsea (5.30)
National League North play-off final:
Boston United v Altrincham (3.0)
National League South play-off final:
Weymouth v Dartford (1.0)
Scottish Premiership: (3.0 unless stated)
Aberdeen v Rangers (12.30); Dundee
United v St Johnstone; Hibernian v Kilmar-
nock; St Mirren v Livingston

Boxing

Brentwood: Fight Camp week one,
Eggington v Cheeseman (7.0).

Cricket

Ageas Bowl: England v Ireland, second
one-day international (2.0)
6 England lead three-match series 1-
Bob Willis Trophy (First day of four, All
11.0):
Central Gloucestershire v Worcestershire;
Somerset v Glamorgan; Warwickshire v
Northamptonshire
North Derbyshire v Northamptonshire;
Durham v Yorkshire; Leicestershire v Lan-
cashire
South: Essex v Kent; Surrey v Middlesex;
Sussex v Hampshire

Golf

European Tour Hero Open
Marriott Forest of Arden, Birmingham:
third round
PGA Tour World Golf Championships Fed-
Ex St Jude Invitational

J Brown 5-3; F Sherrock bt J Justicia 5-4;

J Brown bt D Portela 5-3; S Marsh bt K Kay

5-3; J Justicia bt D Portela 5-3; S Marsh bt

J Justicia 5-3; D Portela bt S Marsh 5-

Golf

European Tour Hero Open

Marriott Forest of Arden, Birmingham:

second-round leaders (England

unless stated) 131 S Horsfield 68, 63; S-G

Rodriguez (Sp) 62, 69. 134 T Detry (Bel)

67, 67. 135 A Bjork (Swe) 68, 67; A Rozner

(Fr) 68, 67. 136 A Jimenez (Sp) 64, 72; M

Korhonen (Fin) 67, 69; A Levy (Fr) 67, 69;

O Farr (Wales) 65, 71; A Pavon (Fr) 69, 67.

137 W Besseling (Neth) 67, 70; G Forrest

(Scot) 69, 68; R Hojgaard (Den) 66, 71; R

Ramsay (Scot) 69, 68; C Sharvin (N Ire) 70,

67; C Shinkwin 68, 69; K Samooja (Fin) 68,

69

PGA Tour World Golf Championships Fed-

Ex St Jude Invitational.

Tennessee: second-round leaders (US

unless stated) 129 B Todd 64, 65. 131 R

Fowler 64, 67. 133 B-H An (S Kor) 68, 65;

B Koepka 62, 71; C Reavie 66, 67. 134 M

Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70, 64; S Kang (S Kor) 68,

65. Others 137 J Spieth 68, 69; D Johnson
    69, 68; J Kokrak 69, 68; S Lowry (Ire) 68, 69;
    P Mickelson 67, 70. 138 T Finau 70, 68; S
    Garcia (Sp) 67, 71. 139 R McIlroy (N Ire) 73,
    66; D Willett (Eng) 69, 70; T Fleetwood
    (Eng) 72, 67. 140 B DeChambeau 67, 73; P
    Reed 71, 69
    LPGA Tour Drive on Championship
    Inverness, Ohio: early first-round leaders
    (US unless stated) 66 D Kang. 68 L Pace
    (SA) 69 L Ko (NZ); Mi Lee (Aus); A Olson;
    M Schechter. 70 C Ciganda (Sp); D Finkel-
    stein; Y Kawamoto (Japan). 71 K Kauf-
    man; K Tan (Malaysia); A Van Dam (Neth).
    Snooker
    Sheffield: Betfred World Championship
    (England unless stated): J Trump bt T Ford
    10-8. Overnight scores: M Williams (Wal)

Sport

the times | Saturday August 1 2020 2GS 19

Sport

Explained

TENNIS SERVE

AT 140 MPH

by Dominic Inglot,

GB Davis Cup player

and Wimbledon

doubles semi-finalist

The grip

The motion

Placement

Mental challenge

The ball toss

The racket grip you use when you serve is a

continental (“chopper”) grip. Imagine you are

trying to cut wood with your racket. Hold the

racket reasonably firmly but not crazy tight.

You want to make sure you are holding it at a

level of tension so that if someone tried to pull

the racket out of your hand they would not be

able to easily. But you want to keep a little bit of

looseness to your grip because that's how you

can get that last-second snap from the wrist to

give the extra pop on your serve.

When you swing

the racket, the

follow through is

also important

because that is

what is going to

direct you.

Power is not enough as a lot of

players are able to read where the

ball is going. You need to be very

accurate with your serve

placement. A great example is

Roger Federer, who does not have

the biggest serve in the world but

he has got one of the most

I liken the serve to a golfer accurate.

standing on the tee. When you

have so much time, you can

over-think. That is why the

serve can see some players

cripple under the pressure,

with the ball toss going off.

Most problems with the serve arise from the

ball toss. The ball should be in your

fingertips, not in your palm because that

would be difficult to control. Throw the ball

up smoothly and slowly because if you jerk

it up, it's hard to replicate that every time.

Aim it at 12 or 1 o'clock and from there you

can load up into the ball strike. Tall players

have an advantage with the increased

angles available to direct the ball.

You then push up

forward jumping

into the court

executing a

throwing motion

with the racket.

The main source

of power comes

from your legs,

hips and back

because that is

where you are

going to get

height for the

best trajectory.

You want to be

facing side-on

to the court

when you are

serving.

If you are a

right-handed

server, your left

hip is facing

your opponent.

At the start of

the motion

knee-bend is

crucial.

1

2

3

4

1

5

2

7 3

4

8

6

Continental

“chopper”

grip

Index

knuckle

on bevel 2

Foot fault

Feet must be behind the baseline and

not touch it before ball connects with

the racket during the serve

Fastest serve

John Isner

157.2mph

Spots you must pick

for a good serve

in the deuce

court

Short

angle Body

Wide

“T” or middle

Baseline

leads A McManus (Sco) 5-4; S Bingham

leads A Carty 5-4; D Junhui (Ch) leads M

King 5-

Rugby league

NRL Wests Tigers 20 New Zealand Warri-

ors 26; Brisbane Broncos 26 Cronulla

Sharks 36.

Top of table P W D L F A Pts

Penrith 11 9 1 1 262 158 19

Melbourne 11 9 0 2 283 136 18

Parramatta 11 9 0 2 254 134 18

Sydney 11 7 0 4 306 146 14

Cronulla 12 7 0 5 320 274 14

Canberra 11 7 0 4 206 165 14

Rugby union

Super Rugby: Regional finals Western

Force 20 Melbourne Rebels 25

P W D L F A Pts

Brumbies 3 3 0 0 79 46 14

Reds 3 2 1 0 81 68 10

Rebels 4 2 1 1 95 79 9

Waratahs 4 1 0 3 82 99 6

Western Force 4 0 0 4 58 103 3

Tennis

St James’s Place Wandsworth, Battle of

the Brits 2, day five: British Bulldogs 41

Union Jacks 32 (British Bulldog names

first)B Grey lost to J Burrage 7-5, 6-0;

D Inglot & A Gray lost to J Murray & L

Glasspool 7-6, 6-2; M Lumsden lost to H

Watson 6-1, 6-0; K Edmund bt D Evans 6-3,

6-4; E Silva lost to N Broady 6-2, 4-6, 10-6;

C Norrie bt R Peniston 7-5, 3-6, 10-8; L

Broady & H Dart bt L Glasspool & K Boulter

6-4, 6-4; C Norrie & J Konta bt J Murray &

O Nicholls 6-4, 7-

Surrey: Exhibition, UK Pro Series 4 (All

GB) J Paris bt T Martin 6-2, 6-4; M White-

house bt H Patten 3-6, 6-3, 10-5; A Jhun bt

S Hodkin 2-6, 6-4, 10-6; M Basing 5-7, 7-

(7-5), 10-6; B Harris bt J Cash 7-5, 6-2.

FIXTURES

TPC Southwind, Tennessee: third round

LPGA Tour Drive on Championship

Inverness course, Ohio: second round

Motor racing

Silverstone: British Grand Prix qualifying

(2.0)

Snooker

Sheffield: Betfred World Championship

Tennis

St James Place: Battle of the Brits 2 team

tennis, day six

Tomorrow

Football

Vanarama National League play-off final,

Harrogate v Notts County (Wembley, 3.0)

Motor racing

Silverstone: British Grand Prix (2.10)

Rugby league

Betfred Super League Huddersfield v

Leeds (6.30). St Helens v Catalans

Dragons (4.15)

Darts

Icons of Darts live league, fourth stage:

(Eng unless stated) J Brown bt F Sherrock

5-0; K Kay bt J Brown 5-2; F Sherrock bt

K Kay 5-2; J Brown bt J Justicia (Sp) 5-1;

K Kasy bt D Portela (Br) 5-1; S Marsh bt

F Sherrock 5-3; K Kay bt J Justicia 5-1;

F Sherrock bt D Portela 5-1; S Marsh bt

RESULTS

Murray wants sanctions

for protocol breakers

Tennis
Stuart Fraser Tennis Correspondent

played an official match. “The players

need to be smart with their scheduling,”

Murray said. “There is no time in

between the events to do a ten-day

preparation on the different surfaces. I

am sure any physiotherapist or sports

doctor would tell you that when you

start changing surfaces, and you gradu-

ally increase the load on your body on

that new surface, you are creating a

higher risk for injuries.

“Players will need to be a little bit

careful, especially coming into playing

the best-of-five-sets event [the US

Open] very quickly.”

Kyle Edmund, the British No 2,

claimed his second singles victory

against No 1 Dan Evans in four days,

winning 6-3, 6-4 to help give the British

Bulldogs a 41-32 lead over the Union

Jacks going into the closing stages of

the St James’s Place Battle of the Brits

mixed team event. The winner will be

the first to reach 60 points tomorrow.

Murray takes a close look at an airhorn and then cheers on his team-mates, inset

JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES