By London
RAFAEL Nadal leapt to the defence of embattled Andy Murray this week after the British star was accused of faking injuries on court.
German veteran Tommy Haas said world No. 4 Murray exaggerated the effects of injuries in a bid to change the momentum of matches if he wasn't playing well.
Ouch: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga grimaces after hurting a finger during his match at Queen's Club.Credit: AFP
His comments came just days after former Wimbledon women's champion Virginia Wade described Murray as a ''drama queen'' when he suffered a back injury, but recovered quickly to beat Jarkko Nieminen at the French Open.
''Andy is a great guy. In my opinion he never does this to bother the opponent. So that's the most important thing. It's difficult to explain but I really believe in Andy,'' said world No. 2 Nadal.
''I think he's a fair guy, a good competitor. I'm 100 per cent sure that he was doing nothing to bother the opponent, to take advantage.''
■Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fears he could be forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after sustaining a ''serious'' finger injury during his third-round loss to Ivan Dodig at Queen's Club.
Tsonga damaged his right hand when he slipped and fell awkwardly in the sixth game of the final set and the world No. 5 will go for tests to determine if the injury is significant enough to stop him competing at Wimbledon, which starts on June 25.
The former Australian Open finalist, who reached the semi-finals at the All England club last year after an epic win over Roger Federer, admits he is worried he may not recover in time. ''I think it's serious. I didn't do an exam for the moment, but it sounds very bad,'' Tsonga said after his 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 loss.
''I just fell down on it. That's it. I felt like I broke something or I stretched a lot of ligaments.''
Asked if he thought it was unlikely he would make Wimbledon if the finger was broken, the Frenchman said: ''Yeah, for the moment. I will do some exams. I don't know what it is, so I will stay positive and I will see.''
A persistent right ankle injury has already forced recent top-10 player Andrea Petkovic of Germany to withdraw from Wimbledon. She missed the Australian Open because of a lower back injury, then hurt her ankle in her comeback tournament and missed the French Open. Petkovic reached three grand slam quarter-finals last year, at the Australian, French and US Opens, and the third round at Wimbledon. She was replaced by Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia.
■American Andy Roddick accepted a wildcard entry into next week's pre-Wimbledon event at Eastbourne in the hope of whipping his grass game into shape. The former No. 1 made the decision a day after losing his opening match on grass to Frenchman Eduardo Roger-Vasselin at Queen's Club.
Three-time Wimbledon finalist Roddick, ranked 32nd, has battled injuries over the past several seasons, his most recent being hamstring and ankle problems.
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