Andy Murray officially withdraws from Roland Garros

May 21, 2023

Andy Murray, ATP Tennis Players, British Tennis Players, Roland Garros, Tennis News

Andy Murray officially withdraws from Roland Garros

Andy Murray has officially withdrawn from Roland Garros, despite playing five clay court warm-up events and revealing that he wanted to compete at the Paris major ‘one more time’ before retiring.

Murray has had a very up and down clay court season, losing in the opening round of four tournaments, but winning the ATP Challenger tournament in Aix en Provence.

Andy Murray d. Tommy Paul 2-6 6-1 6-2 to win the Aix-en-Provence Challenger

His first ATP Challenger title since 2005.@OpenduPaysdAix | @ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/ciNRdytWiB

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 7, 2023

The three-time major champion has only played Roland Garros once in the past six years, losing in the first round, but admitted earlier this year that he would like to come back to the tournament.

“I don’t know how many times I have played it in the last five or six years, but when I have, like, I physically was not good the year I played against [Stan] Wawrinka [In 2020], and I can’t remember too many other times I have played it in the last five or six years,” Murray said earlier this year.

He added, “So I’d like to get the opportunity to play it one more time before I stop playing. Whilst I feel physically really good, I would like to play there again.”

However, after losing in the first round of the Italian Open, Murray appeared to admit that he had not made a decision on whether he would compete at the second major of the year.

“I’d still like to play but we did agree that we’d talk and make a decision as a team after Rome,” the 36-year-old said after losing to Fabio Fognini.

The former No.1 continued, “That is what I wanted, to see how my game felt, how I was playing and physically how I was doing in some of the longer matches before making a definitive call on it. We’ll have those discussions in the next few days.”

Murray then went to play another French ATP Challenger, this time in Bordeaux, but could not recreate the success he had in Aix-en-Provence and suffered a straight sets defeat to the aforementioned Stan Wawrinka.

The two-time Wimbledon champion has now confirmed his exit from Roland Garros and will be replaced by Matteo Arnaldi, with fans speculating that Murray is prioritising the grass court season.

Andy Murray and his record at Roland Garros

While clay is considered to be Murray’s weakest surface, the British No.3 actually has a higher win-loss record at the Paris major than at the Australian Open and the US Open.

Here is Murray’s record at Roland Garros over the years:

Win-loss record: 39-11 (78%)

2006 – Lost in the first round to Gael Monfils (25), 4-6 7-6(2) 6-1 2-6 1-6

2008 – Lost in the third round to Nicolas Almagro (19), 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 5-7

2009 – Lost in the quarter-final to Fernando Gonzalez (12), 3-6 6-3 0-6 4-6

2010 – Lost in the fourth round to Tomas Berdych (15), 4-6 5-7 3-6

2011 – Lost in the semi-final to Rafael Nadal (1), 4-6 5-7 4-6

2012 – Lost in the quarter-final to David Ferrer (6), 4-6 7-6(3) 3-6 2-6

2014 – Lost in the semi-final to Rafael Nadal (1), 3-6 2-6 1-6

2015 – Lost in the semi-final to Novak Djokovic (1), 3-6 3-6 7-5 7-5 1-6

2016 – Lost in the final to Novak Djokovic (1), 6-3 1-6 2-6 4-6

2017 – Lost in the semi-final Stan Wawrinka (3), 7-6(6) 3-6 7-5 6(3)-7 1-6