Battle of the Brits: Jamie and Andy Murray to compete in six-day event

July 6 was to be tennis’ so-called “Manic Monday,” with all 16 fourth-round singles matches at Wimbledon taking place. While that grass-court extravaganza has been canceled, due to the coronavirus pandemic, you could do a lot worse than June 23, if you’re looking for a substitute.

In addition to the already announced Credit One Bank Invitational—a six-day tournament in Charleston, S.C. that features singles and doubles competition at a venue used on the WTA tour—a second six-day tournament was announced on Friday, this one called the Schroders Battle of the Brits.

As you may have guessed, the Battle will take place in Britain, at the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, near Wimbledon. And it will feature many top British players, including Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund. Proceeds from the event, which will have a singles and doubles component—and like other return-to-play events in tennis, will be held without fans—will be put towards a minimum donation of £100,000 for NHS Charities Together.

“I’m really excited to be putting on Schroders Battle of the Brits and for the first time bringing together the current generation of British male players to compete against one another while raising significant funds for charity,” Jamie Murray said on Friday. “I am particularly grateful to our broadcast partner here in the UK, Amazon Prime Video, for enabling this event to happen.”

In the United States, the event will be shown live on Tennis Channel. “TV Tuesday,” perhaps?

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The Murray-led tournament will help kick off a four-week stretch of British Tour events, all held in Roehampton, beginning July 3.

“We’ve been discussing this event with Jamie for some time and support his efforts, and those of others, to put on events as part of a coordinated plan in returning to elite competition,” said Scott Lloyd, the LTA’s chief executive. “The LTA is looking forward to bringing tennis back into people’s lives this summer and are excited about events like this inspiring fans to get involved in our sport and pick up a racquet.”

Murray, a subject of Tennis Channel’s *My Tennis Life* digital series, has been keeping active as best he can during the tour stoppage, training indoors and outside while following necessary protocols. But nothing can replicate match competition, which the Battle of the Brits will finally provide.

"The last few months have been incredibly challenging times for everyone and we see this event as our way of giving back," Murray said. "A lot of work has gone in to make sure this could happen and we are very excited to be able to bring an action-packed week of tennis, while raising valuable funds for NHS heroes to say thank you for the amazing work they have done."