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EXCLUSIVE: ‘Andy Murray wise to skip French Open,’ says former coach


Former coach Alex Corretja believes Andy Murray decided to skip the French Open to avoid the risk of injury ahead of Wimbledon, he told Tennishead in this exclusive interview

Murray looked set to really attack the rankings this season after a great training camp at the end of 2020.

It has not worked out that way, though, with a COVID test ruling him out of the Australian Open and a groin injury striking him in March.

He initially showed a desire to play Roland Garros, but subsequently removed himself from qualifying and wild card consideration to focus on the upcoming grass season instead.

 

And, according to Eurosport analyst Corretja, who coached Andy Murray from 2008 to 2011, that is probably a wise decision.

“I am not saying he should skip clay because he can still do well on clay but I would say play the least on clay because his best results are not going to be on clay.

“But it’s key the clay court season, its two and a half months so it’s such a long period but maybe he could play a couple of events to be ready for the grass which in the end should be his goal.

“The difference with Roger is that Andy has been playing in the last months, not very successful but he has been playing in Challengers and been humble enough to go back in order to get some rhythm.

“I think skipping Roland Garros this year is a good idea because he knows he is not going to do great and he can only go and hurt himself in a long match.

“If he wants to beat Davidovich Fokina or Andujar, he knows he needs four and a half hours. What’s the point in doing that? Just save some energy and be ready for grass.”

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.