Andy Murray named for fifth Olympics

LONDON: Andy Murray was on Sunday named as one of the four British singles players for the Paris Olympics, which will be his fifth Summer Games.

Murray, who has said he intends to retire later this year, was granted an International Tennis Federation (ITF) place to compete at the French Open at Roland Garros despite his lowly singles ranking of 97 because he is a former Grand Slam winner and Olympic gold medallist.

Team GB were also notified on Thursday that 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu would be in the mix for an ITF place, but she turned down the chance because of the multiple changes in surface over the coming weeks and after only recently returning from a lengthy injury lay-off.

Murray, who won Olympic gold at London 2012 and Rio in 2016, is one of four male singles players selected, alongside Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans. It was a landmark day for Draper, the incoming British number one, as just hours later the 22-year-old won his maiden ATP tour title, beating former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the final of the Stuttgart Open.