Andy Murray is going to start his grass season later today at the ATP Challenger in Surbiton, and he'll do so with a bolstered team.
Murray has been having a few interesting weeks on the tennis tour which started in Monte-Carlo where he was disappointed in his first clay match. The Brit generally skipped over clay in recent years because it's too taxing on his body, however, this year he opted to play on it in order to make what many assumed would be his final Roland Garros appearance.
Despite a vintage run at the Aix Challenger which saw him lift the trophy, Murray still opted to withdraw from Roland Garros in order to prepare for the grass season. It begins today with the Surbiton Challenger where he has a very tricky draw. He's familiar with the event having played it many times as well as the facilities but the tough draw will be tricky to navigate.
He got a wild card into the event to get his Wimbledon preparation started early as it's the one grand slam where he could possibly string together a deep run. If you asked Murray whether he could win, he would probably say that he could but that's a bit too much. Still, according to his compatriot Henman, Murray could make the second week but not really win the event.
Either way, it will be interesting to see what kind of tennis the Brit can produce on grass as he's facing a former grand slam semifinalist in Hyeon Chung who has had a lot of injury issues in the past.
His team will be richer by one member, a 28-year-old doubles specialist, Jonny O'Mara, who has been with Murray for a few weeks now. The volleying skills he possesses could be useful for Murray on grass.
It's unclear how long the partnership will last but there are rumours that the new member will be there for the rest of the year with Ivan Lenld still part of the team as well.
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