Former world number one Andy Murray has withdrawn from the French Open, the second Grand Slam event in the calendar year in tennis. It is the third straight year that the British player has pulled out of the event in Paris.
As documented by the BBC, Murray was the runner-up in the French Open in 2016, his best performance in the clay court event. He lost in the final to Novak Djokovic that year in four sets. The Scotsman has also reached the semi-finals four times at Roland-Garros.
With just one appearance in the last six years in the French Open now, it is looking increasingly unlikely that Murray will get another shot at winning the trophy in the tournament. Now at the age of 36, he is in the final phase of his career.
Murray prevailed in a challenger event in Aix-en-Provence during the clay court season, however, he had early exits in the Monte-Carlo Masters (beaten by Alex de Minaur), Madrid Open (beaten by Andrea Vavassori) and Italian Open (beaten by Fabio Fognini).
In his last appearance before the French Open, Murray was defeated by former rival Stan Wawrinka in a challenger event in Bordeaux. He was beaten 6-3 6-0 by the Swiss player in the round of 16 in South West France.
Wimbledon is Now the Priority
Part of Murray’s decision to withdraw from the French Open is to give himself the best chance of being fit for Wimbledon in July. The Scotsman has had health problems over the last few years, as reported here at Deadline. The grass court event in front of his home supporters is a tournament he will be desperate to play at least one more time.
The 2013 and 2016 winner has been successful in more matches at Wimbledon than in any other Grand Slam event. His record going into the 2023 tournament reads 60-12, which gives him a winning percentage of 83%.
As well as two Wimbledon titles, Murray also won a gold medal at the IOC London Olympics in 2012 on the same grass courts after beating Roger Federer in the final. At the time, that was the biggest success of his career and it led to an improvement in results in the Grand Slam tournaments.
Despite injury problems, Murray has featured at the last two Wimbledon events. In 2021, after a three-year absence, he reached the third round, as reported here at Deadline. The Scottish player had wins over Nikoloz Basilashvili and Oscar Otte, before losing to Denis Shapovalov.
Murray got the better of James Duckworth in the opening round in 2022. He was then involved in an excellent match with John Isner, going down 3-1 against the big-serving American who was the 20th seed in the draw.
As of the 23rd of May, Murray is 40/1 with Betway to win Wimbledon 2023 and bring up a hat-trick of successes in the tournament. Victory for the home player would be the best of his career, as it was only a few years ago that the three-time Grand Slam winner thought he would need to retire from tennis.
Nadal Exit Leaves Alcaraz and Djokovic as Top Seeds
Murray is not the only high-profile player who has had to withdraw from the French Open this year. As reported by Reuters, the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, has also been forced to miss the tournament. The 14-time winner has dominated the clay courts at Roland-Garros since making his debut there in 2005. This is the first time he will not feature in the event in 18 years.
Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz is the number-one seed at this year’s French Open. He won his first Grand Slam event at the US Open in 2022. The world number two has shown some excellent form on clay this year, with wins coming in the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Open, the latter being an ATP Masters 1000 event.
Djokovic is another of the players in the men’s draw who is considered one of the leading contenders for the trophy in Paris. The two-time winner is bidding for a record 23rd Grand Slam singles title. Victory in the French Open would put him one clear of Nadal in the all-time standings. It would also keep his hopes alive of completing the Calendar Grand Slam in 2023 as he was victorious in the Australian Open back in January.
This year’s French Open will be the first time that the French Open will be played without Murray, Nadal and Federer since they turned professional. Djokovic and Wawrinka are the only players in the field who have won the event before.
