Andy Murray 'still' to play French Open after early exit in Rome

May 11, 2023

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

Andy Murray would ‘still like to play’ Roland Garros despite early exit in Rome

Andy Murray has suffered another first round loss in a clay court tournament, but revealed that he is still hoping to play at Roland Garros later this month.

Murray is yet to win a match on clay on the main ATP tour this year, despite winning the Challenger event in Aix en Provence last week.

The three-time Grand Slam champion lost in the opening round of the Italian Open to home favourite Fabio Fognini, 4-6 6-4 4-6, meaning that his 2023 unbeaten record in deciding sets is now over.

Fogna seals it in style! ???#IBI23 pic.twitter.com/Y14GoBNgKX

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 10, 2023

“I’d still like to play but we did agree that we’d talk and make a decision as a team after Rome,” said Murray after the match.

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.”

“It was a pretty patchy match. There was some good stuff in there but also some pretty average stuff. He played very well in the third set. My level was OK in the third, but he played really well in the third.”

Despite Murray suggesting he got what he wanted out of the clay season so far, the Brit was clearly not happy with the umpire Mohamed Lahyani and the Italian crowd after a wrong line call.

In response to an Instagram post from Tennis Tv, Murray said, “Stadium full of Italians booing and whistling, thinking I’m trying to cheat Fabio out of point all because Mo couldn’t read a mark properly, cheers mate.”

Andy Murray - Instagram 2023

Showing his intention to give Roland Garros a shot this year, Murray is entered into another ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux next week where he is the fifth seed.

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.

The 35-year-old has not played the clay major since 2020, but revealed that he would like to play the tournament once more before he retires.

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