Nottingham Open: Andy Murray into quarter-finals as he continues Wimbledon preparations

Top seed Andy Murray continued his Wimbledon preparations by reaching the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open with victory over France's Hugo Grenier.

The 36-year-old Scot wrapped up his seventh straight win on grass and says he is in the best physical condition since his hip operation.

Murray won his first tournament in this country since his 2016 Wimbledon title when he triumphed at Surbiton last week and has continued his good form in the East Midlands, beating Frenchman Hugo Grenier 6-3 7-5.

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Granted it is not as high a level as Queen's will be or the latter stages of Wimbledon, but it is building confidence and fitness and all of those things.

Murray's career was derailed by a hip resurfacing operation in 2018, where a metal insert replaced his bone, and he has battled fitness issues since.

But his movement on the Nottingham grass is looking as good as ever and he is feeling in good shape, despite the long run of matches.

"In terms of physically how I have been, the last six to nine months have been really good and that has been the best I have felt since my surgery, that is really positive," he said.

"I am getting lots of matches in. I always feel really comfortable on the grass courts, so the next few weeks will be a good test for me.

"It is really hard to say if I'm playing my best level overall, I don't know, because I mean absolutely no disrespect to the players I am playing against, I am aware they are very good players, but when you're playing against guys who are in the top 10 in the world they are able to expose certain things in your game a little bit more as well."

Murray will be hoping to stay in Nottingham for the rest of the week before returning to his happy hunting ground at Queen's next week.

The Scot hopes this is all good preparation for the All England Club next month, where the two-time champion could be seeded again.

"It has been great to get lots of matches, you don't know how this will impact in two or three weeks' time, but I am doing my best to give myself the best preparation I can for Wimbledon," he said.

"Hopefully I can perform well in the next few days and heading into Queen's I will have definitely had a lot of matches.

"Granted it is not as high a level as Queen's will be or the latter stages of Wimbledon, but it is building confidence and fitness and all of those things."

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Murray is going in pursuit of his third Challenger title in two months, adding to Aix-en-Provence and Surbiton last week.

However, it was not to be for Britain's Ryan Peniston who lost out to Dominic Stricker 6-4 6-2 to bring an end to his campaign in Nottingham and miss out on a clash with Murray in the last eight.