Doubles tennis player Jamie Murray said that individual players are promoted more than the sport as a whole, which "will be a problem" when top players Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer retire, according to Alyson Rudd of the LONDON TIMES. Jamie Murray noted the top three seeds at last week's Aegon Championships in London -- Andy Murray, Jamie's brother; Stan Wawrinka; and Milos Raonic -- all lost in the first round. Jamie Murray said, "Everyone was panicking, saying it’s a disaster for the tournament, but you got an incredible final that was really exciting. On Tuesday evening, though, you would have thought the tournament was finished." Murray added, "The ATP have pushed these four guys which means the problem is that anyone not in the top ten isn’t very good and that’s not true. Andy lost last week to Jordan Thompson, who [was] 90 in the world, and everyone says it’s the worst loss ever, but the guy winning the U.S. Open golf could be 100th in the world and no one says anything but ‘well played.'" Murray said that he is "unsure that it is any better in the women’s game." World No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko was victorious at the French Open, but "few of those watching knew much about the 20-year-old Latvian." Murray: "I don’t know how well the WTA are promoting players. But she (Ostapenko) is only 20 and she’s been a top-30 player for the past two or three years, so she should be getting pushed from a marketing point of view because she probably will be one of the faces of the sport for the next ten years, but your average person would not have heard of her" (LONDON TIMES, 6/29).
