21 June 2023 , 14:54
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Andy Murray's uncle and brother have led criticism of a new series of artwork at Wimbledon for the "appalling" omission of the two-time champion.
On social media, Wimbledon shared an image showing top prospects Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz ahead of some of the greatest tennis players of all time. "At Wimbledon, we've witnessed epic rivalry after epic rivalry, lifting the sport to new heights," they wrote.
"Here's to the next generation of headline acts..." Among those depicted behind Sinner and Alcaraz are the trio of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, along with the Williams sisters, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert and Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.
However, many fans were unhappy at the omission of Murray, who ended a 77-year wait for a British male singles Wimbledon champion when he won there in 2013. And Niall Erskine, who is the brother of Murray's mum Judy, wrote on Twitter : "Appalling at every level, all about the men in the forefront and your own British history maker nowhere to be seen. You should be ashamed of yourselves."
Jamie Murray also questioned his brother's absence, asking on Instagram: "Where's @andymurray?" And when a fan asked "Where's his rivalry? He's not a part of the Big 3", Murray hit back: "Didn't they talk about the Big 4 for 10 years until he smashed his hip to pieces when he was world No.1 you melt".
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The image is one of several Wimbledon is releasing ahead of this year's tournament to celebrate the Grand Slam's rich history. The first illustration was released last week with the caption: "Wimbledon - home to generation after generation of trailblazers".
It depicted a host of former Wimbledon champions with their trophies, including Navratilova, Becker, the Williams sisters, Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe. However, Murray was once again missing.
And the 36-year-old is confident he can compete at this year's Wimbledon, despite suffering a straight sets defeat to Alex de Minaur at Queens on Tuesday. Murray will be unseeded at Wimbledon, but when asked if he believes he can beat most seeded players he said: "Yeah, I think so. Obviously grass, there are less [sic] players that are probably comfortable on the surface than the clay and the hard courts.
"Some of the seeded players are maybe not that comfortable on the grass, so there are some draws that are better than others. There are also guys that are not seeded but love the grass courts and it's their favourite surface. So, yeah, let's see what happens now."