Saturday, May 21, 2011

No Roland Garros KO for Murray

No Roland Garros KO for Murray
Andy Murray's camp insisted he was not an injury doubt for the French Open after he pulled out of an exhibition match in Paris.
The Scot was scheduled to play Michael Llodra in the Masters Guinot Mary Cohr event at Paris Country Club but withdrew at the last minute after feeling pain during practice.
With the second grand slam of the season starting on Sunday, the news set alarm bells ringing, but Murray's representative was keen to stress the move was simply a precaution and not the precursor to his withdrawal from Roland Garros.
A statement from the exhibition tournament organisers read: "Andy has withdrawn from the Masters Guinot Mary Cohr today as a precaution after sustaining a minor injury whilst training this morning.
"Andy would like to apologise to the fans and sponsors but hopes to play in the Masters Guinot Mary Cohr once again next year."
The 24-year-old, who missed both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2007 because of a wrist problem, did make a brief appearance on court to apologise in person and explained he felt pain while playing practice points and therefore decided not to take any risks.
He then returned to his hotel for treatment ahead of tomorrow's draw, where he will hope both that he is given a Monday start and that his luck is better than it was last year.
On that occasion Murray, whose best showing at Roland Garros was a quarter-final appearance in 2009, found himself up against supremely-talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet and had to fight back from two sets down before prevailing in five.
Gasquet is back up at 14th in the world so Murray will certainly not find him waiting in the first round again but there are plenty of clay-court specialists who will not be seeded and who would provide a significant hurdle.
The Scot, though, can boast semi-final appearances at the Masters events in both Monte Carlo and Rome in recent weeks and has every right to be confident of his own prospects.
After taking Rafael Nadal to a deciding set in Monte Carlo, Murray went as close as anyone to ending Novak Djokovic's unbeaten start to the season in the Italian capital before losing out in a deciding tie-break.
Meanwhile, British number three Heather Watson is one victory away from joining Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong in the main draw of the women's singles after beating Australian Sally Peers 6-3 7-5 in the second qualifying round.
It was the perfect 19th birthday present for the former US Open junior champion, who will qualify for the main draw of a grand slam for the first time if she beats Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele.
After taking the first set in 42 minutes on Thursday, Watson twice let leads slip in the second against her good friend Peers, also 19, before finally serving out the victory at the second time of asking.
The Guernsey teenager, whose only appearance in the main draw of a grand slam was a first-round defeat as a wild card at Wimbledon last year, has enjoyed a terrific season and is currently at a career-high ranking of 119.
Watson said: "I'm really chuffed and it's my birthday today so now it's time to celebrate, but not too much because I've got to rest up and get ready for my third round tomorrow."

No comments:

Post a Comment