‘I’m Not Planning to Play Clay Court Season’- Andy Murray Says He Will Not Compete at the Roland Garros in 2022

Just a couple of days ago, Andy Murray recorded the 700th win of his career when he defeated Taro Daniel in the tournament opener in Indian Wells. However, the former World No.1 suffered a second-round loss at the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells. Alexander Bublik beat the Brit in straight sets 7-6(9), 6-3. However, that wasn’t all. The disappointment of loss doubled for Murray fans after his post-match press conference when he announced his withdrawal from the clay-court season.

Andy Murray has a decent record on clay. Out of his 46 career title wins, three have been on clay.  He won his first clay-court title in 2015, winning the ATP 250 event in Munich. It was followed by a win at the Madrid Masters 1000. His third title came in the following year, winning the Italian Open in Rome. Apart from these three titles, Murray has also been a runner-up at the 2016 Madrid Masters and at the 2016 Roland Garros.

During the post-match press conference, Murray was asked to give his thoughts on the upcoming clay-court swing, taking into consideration the current form of Rafael Nadal and the return of Noval Djokovic. Even though the fans waited for some positive news, the excitement soon turned into disappointment.

Murray announced his withdrawal from the clay-court season saying, “I’m not planning to play the clay-court season.”

Andy Murray gives his thoughts on Nadal and Djokovic’s chances for the clay season

Rafael Nadal has been in outstanding form since the start of the 2022 season. Currently, on a 16-0-win streak, the Spaniard has won 3 titles so far this year. He is aiming for the 37th Masters 1000 of his career in Indian Wells this year. Considering the current form and Nadal’s superhuman dominance on clay over the years, Murray has termed Nadal as the favorite at the French Open this year. He said, “As it stands today, I will have to put Rafa as being the favorite, potentially at the French Open again.”

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Comparing Nadal’s physical status a few months back to that of now, Murray asserted that the Spaniard may feel a bit less pressure in comparison to the previous few years while competing on clay.

“Rafa started the year extremely well. Maybe he is in a position, that he even said, he was not expecting himself to be in even a few months ago. So, he probably feels like, quite relaxed. Also, maybe a little bit less pressure than it was on him from the last couple of French Opens. “

Murray is not willing to count out Djokovic at the French Open

Even though the 34-year-old showered lot of praises on Nadal, he didn’t shy away from giving his thoughts on Novak Djokovic’s comeback as well. Giving a critical outlook to Djokovic, Murray said, “Novak obviously had very little competitive tennis for a period”.

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Considering Djokovic’s track record, Murray further gave his views on Djokovic’s potential comeback during the clay-court season. “I wouldn’t count Novak out for sure. But it’s not going to be easy because he has missed up quite a lot of tennis,” he said.