Rennae Stubbs on Andy Murray: "He's one of the great players we've had over the last two decades; if he wants 55 wildcards, give them to him"

Former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs has defended Andy Murray from all criticism arising out of him receiving wildcards to various tournaments.

Murray most recently received a wildcard to compete at the Qatar Open, an ATP 250 event held in Doha. The Brit fought hard in the tournament, beating the likes of Lorenzo Sonego, Alexander Zverev, Alexandre Muller and Jiri Lehecka in three sets each — and saving eight match points en route.

In the final, however, he lost to Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4. This was Murray's first straight sets loss in eight matches.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs urged people to enjoy watching Murray play rather than worry about the number of wildcards he has received.

"Enjoy the ride people, enjoy the ride. You know, one of the great things about him getting to the final was like, all these people that complain about ‘Why does he get a wildcard?’ I'm like, because of that," she said.

She lauded his fighting spirit that almost invariably made his matches more entertaining.

"Because that is the entertainment factor you get with Andy Murray. You know he's never going to give up, you know he's going to give you everything, you know he's going to fight till the end and he wants to win," she added.

The 51-year-old Australian believes that Murray's stature makes him a deserving candidate for every wildcard that is sent his way.

"He's one of the great players we've had over the last two decades. So if he wants 55 wildcards, give them to him. That's as far as I'm concerned," she opined.

Murray also received a wildcard to participate in the Dubai Tennis Championships. But he withdrew from the tournament as a precautionary measure, having spent a grueling 11 hours and 51 minutes on the court in Doha.

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Andy Murray working hard to find renewed success at Wimbledon

Andy Murray in action at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

Andy Murray recently opened up about his endeavor to find consistency during training and become a title contender at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

In an exclusive interview with The Times UK, the former World No. 1 explained that his short-term goal was to improve his World No. 52 ranking and reach the top 32, which would help him secure seedings at Slams.

He also claimed that with most players on the tour being more confident on hardcourts, his chances of success at Wimbledon were greater than other places.

“My feeling on Wimbledon is that less players play well on grass. More of the guys are comfortable on the hard courts and that probably increases my chances. I’m not saying I would expect to win the French Open [on clay] if I played, but with Wimbledon there is certainly a better opportunity to have a deep run,” he said.