Andy Murray OUT of French Open with ‘fatigue’ as tennis legend prioritises Wimbledon
ANDY MURRAY has pulled out of the French Open to focus on his Wimbledon preparations.
The Scot, who turned 36 last week, has decided not to play the Roland Garros tournament, which starts in Paris next Sunday.
The former world No.1 has only once played the French capital clay-court Slam in the past six editions – and that was a crushing three-set defeat to Stan Wawrinka in the 2020 Covid-rescheduled event.
Fatigue is the reason for his withdrawal ahead of Sunday’s qualifying draw but also a need to prioritise his grass-court schedule if he wants to perform at Wimbledon this summer.
The three-time Grand Slam champion is the latest big name to announce he will not be playing the French Open.
Emma Raducanu, Rafa Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Matteo Berrettini will all be missing, too, though their reasons are for injury-related concerns.
Murray – who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2016 French Open final – is likely to play begin the grass campaign at a Challenger event in Surbiton, the week commencing Monday June 5.
After that there is the prospect of competing at the Stuttgart Open – where he lost in the final last year to Italian Berrettini.
Then an appearance at the Queen’s Championships where he has a lifetime playing agreement.
Ranked 41st in the world when the ATP list is next updated, Murray is desperate to earn a seeding spot for Wimbledon, which begins on Monday July 3.
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The two-time Wimbledon champion was unseeded at SW19 in 2022 and he ended up being blown off court in the second round by big-serving American John Isner.
Murray, who had career-saving hip surgery in January 2019, has not made the quarter-final of one of the four majors since Wimbledon in 2017.