The 34-year-old Scot, who was knighted in 2016, has won Wimbledon twice, been to eleven grand slam finals and is the only one to have won two Olympic gold medals.
A better poster name than Sir Andrew Murray is hard to come by during the Stockholm Open 6-13 November.
– I have talked to him for most of the year and know his manager. Murray gets a wild card because he is not high enough on the ranking after his hip surgery, says Enqvist.
This week Murray played the ATP tournament in Vienna where he started by defeating the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, tenth in the rankings, with 2-1 in sets but was forced to leave the tournament after a 0-2 loss against the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, ranked 42, in rounds two.
– He plays so well and feels fresh, it will be exciting to see what he can do in the Royal Tennis Hall, says Enqvist.
For a while he saw Murray’s career out to be over.
He lived with a constant pain for 18 months and was forced to have hip surgery in January 2019.
“Now I have a metal hip. Feeling a little tired and exhausted right now but hopefully this means the end of my hip pain “, wrote the shot on Instagram.
– I think he is the only athlete in the world who did that operation and replaced the hip ball to then come back and play at the absolute highest level. He has struggled, says Enqvist.
With Andy Murray, the crowd of world players expands. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, ranked eighth, Hubert Hurkacz, ranked tenth and reigning Stockholm Open champion and 13-ranked Denis Shapovalov are already ready to start.
– We are very proud of the strong starting field. If you look at the ranking, it is perhaps the best starting field Stockholm Open has had as we have ten players from the top 20, and two of them are in the top ten.
The week before the ATP playoffs, it can be difficult to get in some of the very best players.
But many of the stars who come to Stockholm do so to snatch points that allow them to qualify as one of the eight who get to play the ATP playoffs in the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, November 14-21.
– We have worked hard for it and had a little luck. It is a whole bunch of players who have the chance to advance to the playoffs, it has played a little in our hands, Enqvist admits.
Enqvist is happy that the Stockholm Open, which is the oldest and most traditional indoor tournament on the ATP Tour, still has its appeal.
He lists winners such as Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Roger Federer.
– It is a huge competition that has a prestige and tradition that it can be difficult for the new competitions to get. In this way, the Stockholm Open is an incredibly strong brand, it is a flagship in every way.
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