Murray facing nightmare Wimbledon situation if he rejects French Open

Andy Murray discusses Battle of the Brits competition in 2022

Andy Murray began his clay season with the worst possible start with a 6-1 6-3 defeat to Alex de Minaur in the first round of the Monte Carlo Open, prompting questions over the remainder of his campaign. The Brit described his exit as “demoralising” but the loss could have a significant impact on his future tournaments – including Wimbledon.

Murray made 26 unforced errors and was unable to return a single break point against the Australian, as the 35-year-old admitted that he may consider a U-turn on his participation for the rest of the clay court season.

He had been set to compete at Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome and the French Open but in previous years has cut them out of his schedule – especially from 2018 to 2021 when he only played in one Rolland Garros tournament.

“I have to have a long think about things with my team and what I do from here,” Murray told Tennis Majors. “There’s not really any options tournament-wise. Last year, we had looked into the possibility of playing potentially some hard court Challengers.

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“But with the way the rules are now, like the ones that are over in Asia, for example, I can’t go and play them during Madrid and Rome. I’m not allowed to play elsewhere. So it’s just whether I play the clay court season or whether I miss it. I have to have a long think about things with my team and what I do from here, in terms of where I train or do I stick on the clay. It was pretty disappointing.”

However, missing the clay season would severely hamper Murray’s attempts to get into the top 32 of the world rankings. Back-to-back defeats at Miami and Monte Carlo have seen him projected to come in at No 51 in next week’s rankings, though he could fall further by cutting out clay.

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On grass, he would have the Stuttgart Open and Queens in order to win ranking points, but by Wimbledon there is a chance he is outside of the top 32 and would not get a seeded spot at the Grand Slam.

Without a seeded spot at SW19, Murray risks the chance of coming up against some of the top players in the world such as Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz as early as the first round – something he would not prefer as he aims for a deep run at the Major.

The two-time Wimbledon champion has been reminded that his focus should be on SW19 this summer, as Murray has a big decision to make on his clay participation that could go on to have serious ramifications for the remainder of his season.

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