Andy Murray was back at the Aegon Championships yesterday, albeit in practice mode, looking to get back in the groove after his early exit the previous day.
The Scot was hard at work with coach Ivan Lendl, trying to find his feet on the same grass courts on which he had looked so uncomfortable when he was beaten by Nicolas Mahut in his opening match.
He might have taken some comfort when he saw that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had also been beaten – 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 – by Croatia's Ivan Dodig, the world No.69. But Murray will also have taken note of the fact that Tsonga could yet be ruled out of Wimbledon after suffering an injury to the little finger on his right hand during the match.
The Frenchman was due to have a scan last night but after the match suggested it could be serious. "I will do an exam," he said. "You never know but I felt like I broke something or I stretched a lot of ligaments, I would say. For the moment, I don't know what it is, so I will stay positive and I will see."
Tsonga beat Roger Federer to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon last summer and if he is fit, the world No.5 is one of the biggest dangers to the top four – Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Federer and Murray.
As Murray ironed out a few wrinkles in his performance, his conqueror was being soundly beaten in the third round, 7-6, 6-4, by Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, a 21-year-old whose ranking of No.72 belies his incredible talent.
Dimitrov was the junior champion at Wimbledon in 2008 and with a style very much in the mould of Roger Federer, the pressure has been on him to break through to the top level ever since. Injuries, lack of physical prowess and a bit of bad luck has slowed his progress but on yesterday's evidence, he may not be too far away from fulfilling his promise, even if he says he is trying not to get ahead of himself.
"I am not worrying about trying to make a breakthrough," he said. "I'm not thinking of that at all, because that's not my goal at the moment.
"Of course I'm happy to win these matches and to go on and win why not more and why not the tournament, of course. But I don't have a short time thing. I just like to see what's going to happen the week after. You never know. I might win the tournament and next week I go and I lose first round or something like this. I take it day by day, step by step. If your game goes well, you take it."
Chris Kermode, the tournament director, is well known for taking chances on some younger players, hoping it will pay off in the long run by a commitment on their part.
When Dimitrov was given a wildcard in 2009, the year after his junior Wimbledon triumph, he promised Kermode that he would come back every year until he wins the title.
So far, he has been true to his word and with Murray, Tsonga, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt all gone from the field, the tournament could do with someone of his charisma and class, both this week and in future years.
British involvement was restricted to the doubles event as Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins made it through to round three with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus of Belgium.
But Jamie Murray and Marcos Baghdatis went out, beaten 6-3, 7-6 by India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna.
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