Andy Murray to skip French Open as he schedules 2022 season amid injury concerns

02/06/2022

Andy Murray has revealed he will miss the French Open and the whole clay court season as he looks to juggle his 2022 schedule amid injury concerns.

Murray, who is still looking to rediscover his best form following past injuries, is taking a bigger-picture view of the year ahead following his early exit from the Australian Open.

Murray is preparing to take to the court in Rotterdam next week for the first time since his disappointing exit in Melbourne, and he is briefly working with Dani Vallverdu as a coach once again following his unsuccessful trial with Jan de Witt.

And ahead of the ATP Tour tournament in Rotterdam, Murray has admitted he will be trying to balance his season this year – and as a result, will skip the French Open.

"Right now I am not planning on playing through the clay," Murray said on Sunday.

"The past couple of years, the clay has made issues worse; last year I had some issues at the beginning of the year, the clay didn't help, so I've spoken to my team about that and this year while I feel good and healthy, I don't want to take that risk.

"It's not that I wouldn't potentially play on clay in the future. Last year I almost missed Wimbledon, was close to not playing the grass season, I'm not planning on playing the clay.

"I will still try to compete a bit during that period, I won't do nothing, that's my plan just now.

"I had a busy end of last year and the next couple of months I won't take any risks and hopefully get a good build up to the grass season."

While maintaining peak fitness remain a key priority for Murray, finding a new long-term coach is becoming hugely important to him.

Vallverdu will be with Murray in Rotterdam, landing on Sunday, but the Brit is fully aware that he needs to look elsewhere to solve his coaching predicament.

Vallverdu is only available to the three-time Grand Slam champion while Stan Wawrinka returns to full fitness.

"It's not been easy to find someone," he said. "Obviously, Stan Warwinka has been rehabbing for quite a long time and is hopefully coming back to the tour, but he agreed for Dani to come and work with me for a few weeks over the next month or so which is great for me in the short term, but still trying to find a longer-term solution.

"It's not that straightforward, I'm not as in demand as a few years ago.

"Ultimately, I want it to be the right person. I'm aware there's no perfect setup, but medium, longer term I want some stability and will try and get that in the next few weeks."

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