Wimbledon 2019: Andy Murray receives doubles boost as partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert loses in first round

Murray returned from a five-month injury lay-off last week to win the men’s doubles title at Queen’s Club with Feliciano Lopez and is entered with Herbert, a doubles specialist, at Wimbledon

Andy Murray’s hopes of winning the men’s doubles at Wimbledon this summer received something of a boost on Monday morning when his partner, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, lost in the first round of the singles to 2018 runner-up Kevin Anderson.

Murray returned from a five-month injury lay-off last week to win the men’s doubles title at Queen’s Club with Feliciano Lopez and is entered with Herbert, a doubles specialist, at Wimbledon.

Murray, twice a men’s singles winner at Wimbledon, also plans to play mixed as he continues his recovery from hip-resurfacing surgery in February. Unlike Herbert, he is not playing singles.

And Murray’s hopes of performing well in the doubles received a boost when Herbert went down in the first round against Anderson, meaning he will be fresher for their campaign later this week.

Herbert, 28, has won the men’s doubles at every single Grand Slam but was always up against it having been handed a tough draw against South Africa’s Anderson, who lost in the final of the Wimbledon men’s singles against Novak Djokovic last year.

The Frenchman went down in three sets: losing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to Anderson in just under two hours on No 3 Court.

Murray and Herbert are in action against Marius Copil and Ugo Humbert, on Wednesday.