Andy Murray pulls out of French Open to focus on Wimbledon

Andy Murray will not compete at Roland Garros this year after suffering from some discomfort during the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome and will instead attempt to return to singles during the upcoming grass season and Wimbledon.

Murray, who turned 34 years old today, returned to action in doubles after a two-month layoff following his withdrawal from the Miami Open in March with a groin injury. He had travelled to Rome in order to train with top players but he paired up with Liam Broady in doubles, losing in the second round.

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The intention was for Murray to request a wildcard into the main draw of either Geneva, where Roger Federer will play his first tournament of the clay season, or Lyon next week and then for Roland Garros. He instead declined a wildcard for Geneva.

Before he travelled to Rome Murray described his series of injury setbacks since his hip resurfacing surgery in 2019 as “extremely frustrating” and “hard to take” but he was hopeful of finally being able to play enough tournaments to accurately gauge his playing level. Instead he has suffered fresh disappointment.

This year’s grass season begins during the second week of the French Open due to the tournament’s decision to start a week later, so Murray will hope to be healthy enough to return on 8 June at either the ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart or the Challenger in Nottingham.

Five months into the season, Murray has competed in singles at only two ATP tournaments and he has admitted to his morale faltering after so many days in rehab at home. It seems imperative that he is ready to compete in three weeks.