Andy Murray off to winning start as Nottingham Open goes ahead despite triple murder

The 2023 Nottingham Open tennis tournament went ahead as scheduled even though the city was placed on high alert following a tragic incident on Tuesday. Three people were killed and three more were injured and are currently in hospital in Nottingham, with most of the local area cordoned off.

Murders in Nottingham

Out of the three dead, two were believed to have been stabbed and were found dead by police in Ilkeston Road just after 04:00 BST. After this, the officers received news about Milton Street where a van had tried to run over three people. Later on, a man was found dead on Magdala Road, reported BBC.

Andy Murray, who is the top seed at the ongoing ATP Challenger Tour event in Nottingham, said he was not sure if the event would go ahead after the "heartbreaking" incident.

But play did go on as planned and Murray, who is coming on the back of his second title of the year at Surbiton last week, kickstarted the tournament in Nottingham with a win. The 36-year-old tennis star defeated Belgian minnow Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-4.

Earlier in the day, when Nottingham Open organisers confirmed the grass-court event would continue, they also warned fans to consider the closures in their journeys, according to Mirror.

"Play will start at 11 am as normal. Spectators are being asked to allow extra time to travel to the site," a tournament spokesperson said in a statement.

Murray, who earlier dined out in the city centre not very far away from where the attacks happened, said the incident was "way more important than tennis."

"It was obviously shocking when I woke up this morning and when I was going down to breakfast a few messages on our team chat came up. We are staying in the city centre and had been out for dinner last night and walking around those areas. You never expect something like that to happen, it was really shocking, obviously heartbreaking for the victims and the people involved so hopefully, everyone is safe now," added Murray in an interview.

Meanwhile, to ensure safety, officers and other emergency services continue to remain at several locations across the city. Police have arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of murder and he remains in custody. According to news reports, footage has shown the accused man on the ground next to a white van as three officers were carrying out the arrest on Bentinck Road in Nottingham.

Police have stated they are keeping an "open mind" about the motive of the attack and are currently not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths, according to Sky Sports. They also said that they are working alongside counter-terrorism police as they generally would in these types of situations.

Nottingham Open's tournament organisers have confirmed there will be a minute's silence in memory of the three victims ahead of play on Wednesday morning.

Andy Murray's fight on the court continues

For Murray, meanwhile, everything on the court is going well as the Scotland-born player has now won his sixth match in nine days and is feeling in good physical shape. Murray's win at Surbiton, a second-tier tournament, coincided with Novak Djokovic's record 23rd Grand Slam victory as the Serbian player lifted the French Open on Sunday.

In regards to the same, Murray revealed a special text message from his wife Kim that put things into perspective for the former ATP World No. 1.

"I got a message from my wife when I was driving up here saying she had seen Novak on the news that he won in Paris and said she was so proud that I was still grinding it out in Challengers and still working as hard as I ever have done and that means a lot to me," added Murray.

Murray will next take on France's Hugo Grenier at Nottingham Open on Thursday.