Murray: Don't worry about my fitness

 

Andy Murray allayed fears about his fitness and declared himself ready to face home qualifier Eric Prodon in the opening round of the French Open.

The world number four set alarm bells ringing when he cut short his practice session at Roland Garros and then pulled out of an exhibition match against Michael Llodra at Paris Country Club.
Murray's camp were keen to stress his inaction was merely a precaution and at his pre-tournament press conference he insisted his only problem was aches and pains caused by a heavy schedule.
The 24-year-old said: "I was just a bit stiff and sore. I trained hard in London for three or four days after Rome. I trained most of the day on Wednesday and then came over on the Eurostar, and then I practised first thing yesterday morning to warm up for the exhibition.
"I didn't feel great. I think it was maybe my body just saying to take it easy for a day or so because I have been working very hard. I made a decision not to play the exhibition. I'm practising this afternoon. I should be fine."
If Murray needed a boost then he certainly received it at Saturday's draw. After taking five sets to come through a nightmare opening round against Richard Gasquet last year, the Scot should have a much easier time of it against world number 118 Prodon.
Another qualifier is guaranteed in round two, with Simone Bolelli playing Frank Dancevic, and it is not until the third round that Murray is likely to be tested.
That could come in the form of rising Canadian star Milos Raonic, who has rocketed up the rankings to 28th this year after reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and then winning his maiden ATP World Tour title in San Jose.
If the seedings work out then Murray would meet Viktor Troicki in round four but the Serb must first get past Alexandr Dolgopolov, who gave Murray such a hard time in Australia in January.
The Scot is in the same quarter as eighth seed Jurgen Melzer, who reached the semi-finals last year but is surely preferable to Robin Soderling, David Ferrer or Tomas Berdych. Murray has beaten Melzer five times in a row.
A first semi-final appearance in Paris would probably pit the British number one against defending champion Rafael Nadal but, although he has never beaten the world number one on clay, their recent meeting in Monte Carlo was a significant step forward.
Murray pushed Nadal to a deciding set in their semi-final before he was hampered by a wrist injury and, perhaps even more impressively, he then came as close as anyone to ending Novak Djokovic's unbeaten start to the season in Rome.
"I feel good," said Murray. "I have been playing well on the clay, better than previous years. I feel like I've been training well. Physically I feel like I'm in good shape and I have been moving well, too. I'm looking forward to the start of the tournament.
"You've got to be very focused during the French especially, because one bad set or a couple of bad sets and you can get yourself fatigued or tired early in the tournament. You need to be switched on right from the start."
Murray, meanwhile, hailed the achievement of 19-year-old Heather Watson in qualifying for the main draw of a grand slam for the first time.
He added: "It's good for British tennis. She's done very well this year. I don't know her that well but I saw her playing one match at the Orange Bowl a few years ago and I thought she was good.
"She has good balance on the court and is very solid. She's obviously doing well now in the seniors and it won't be very long before she's in the top 100 and hopefully higher.
"It's great that she's managed to qualify here on probably a surface that she hasn't played too much on."