Andy Murray Finds Himself on a Tough Path Before French Open 2021, Enters Qualifying Draw

The last couple of years have been tough for former World No.1 and three-time Grand Slam champion, Andy Murray. Since his hip surgeries in 2018, Murray has slipped down the pecking order and now finds himself far away from the top 100. Because of his abysmal ranking, Murray has not made the French Open 2021 main draw list. With no wildcard on the horizon, Murray is on the qualifying list instead.

Murray is ranked 121st in the world. The top 104 qualify for the main draw, thus he is way below the charts for the direct main draw entry. The Scotsman is seeded 16th in the qualifying stage of the Roland Garros 2021.

Along with him, the other notable player on the list is Kevin Anderson. Anderson is a two-time Grand Slam runner-up who is currently ranked 105th in the world. Thus, even he will have to fight it out in the qualifying rounds.

The French Open qualifying comprises three rounds. There 128 players aiming for 16 qualifying positions, which means each qualifying position is fought between eight players.

These eight players will play knockout rounds against each other, essentially playing quarterfinals. The player who wins the final, qualifies for the main draw. This happens in a total of 16 different brackets of eight players each.

Andy Murray in French Open 2020

Last year, Murray was given a wildcard and thus bypassed the qualifying stages. But the main draw didn’t go as planned for the Brit; he lost in the first round to Stan Wawrinka in three sets, once again setting the alarm bells off on his fallen stature in the game and whether he deserved the wildcard or not.

Murray is a former runner-up at French Open. In his record-breaking run in 2016, he reached the final where he lost to Novak Djokovic. Since then, he’s made a semifinal appearance in 2017, which ultimately was the trigger for his hip injury.

The 2017 Roland Garros semifinal against Stan Wawrinka took a toll on both Murray and Wawrinka’s bodies, and since then, injuries and surgeries have crippled their form.

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