Andy Murray exits Eastbourne but Konta, Evans and Norrie advance

EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: Andy Murray of Great Britain and Marcelo Melo of Brazil in action during their mens doubles match against Columbian pair Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah during day two of the Nature Valley International at Devonshire Park on June 25, 2019 in Eastbourne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for LTA) SUS-190625-220810002

Murray, 32, could not emulate his doubles success from Queen’s last Sunday where he won the tournament alongside Feliciano Lopez.

Murray will now focus on his doubles-bid at Wimbledon where he will partner Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Murray said, “Playing a match within 48 hours of Queen’s is quite a quick turn around. Conditions here are very different to Queen’s. They returned extremely well and made it tough for both of us. It was tricky. I will have a couple of days off now. I have hit tennis balls for the last nine or 10 days. I will let my body rest up and then get training again.”

There was better news for Eastbourne’s Johanna Konta as she beat Maria Sakkari after a second set tie-break to win 6-4, 7-6. There was a worrying moment for the British No 1 as she slipped and land awkwardly on her wrist.

Tomorrow, Konta goes toe-to-toe with Ons Jabeur tomorrow.

Konta said, “I’m very pleased to come through that. I think there was so little in it and in both sets. Our points actually felt that she was playing better than me, so I was just really pleased that I was able to stay with her and create a few opportunities and take a few of them. So, yeah, pleased I have come through.”

British No 3 Daniel Evans kicked-off the day as the first British winner as he beat Moldovan Radu Albot 7-6, 6-2.

Evans will face doubles specialist Herbert tomorrow.

Evans said, “I felt a bit flat at the start but got into it. You know, I hung around a lot last week, played dubs. So I was a bit lethargic at the start, but I thought I got going and I’m pretty happy with the end of that match. Yeah, it was a good match.”

Cameron Norrie impressed the Eastbourne crowd as he beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6, finishing with a thrilling tie-break. It sets up an all British tie as Norrie’s next game is against British No 1 Kyle Edmund. The British pair will go head-to-head on Centre Court tomorrow following Simona Halep’s match against Polona Hercog.

Heather Watson and Harriet Dart couldn’t add to the list of British winners. They fell short against Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke in the doubles as the American and Czech pair won 4-6, 7-6, 10-6.

Ken and Neal Skupski also failed to win against the pair of Wesley Koolhof and Marcus Daniell who beat the brothers 7-5, 7-6.

Evans and Lloyd Glasspool will also be competing in the doubles competition tomorrow as they feature as the last match on Centre Court when they challenge Cabal and Farah.