Murray eyes Wimbledon after setting a return date
ANDY Murray is set to make his return to the men’s tour in the Netherlands in the week immediately after the French Open.
The former World No.1, who has not played in a tournament for nearly nine months because of a hip injury, has entered the grass-court event at Rosmalen, near ’s-Hertogenbosch, which begins on June 11.
As soon as he had surgery on his right hip in January, Murray targeted the grass-court season for his competitive return. He could still start his comeback in Challenger events before Rosmalen, but the Dutch tournament looks almost certain to be his first tour-level competition.
Rosmalen is a 250 tournament — signifying 250 ranking points for the champion — which is the lowest level on the main tour. The following week’s Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club will offer 500 points to the champion, while the nine Masters 1000 tournaments offer the most points.
“I am looking forward to getting back on the grass and to playing in Rosmalen for the first time,” Murray said. “I’ve heard lots of good things about the tournament and the courts are meant to be good. It’s the perfect way to prepare for Wimbledon.”
Marcel Hunze, the tournament director at Rosmalen, said: “We invested heavily in the quality of the tournament and the grass courts. The participation of former Wimbledon champion, and grass-court specialist, Andy Murray is a great reward.”
Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev were the highest ranked players to enter Rosmalen last year, when 34-year-old Gilles Muller beat 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic in the final.
Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo won the doubles in Rosmalen last year and went on to become Wimbledon champions.
No singles champion at Rosmalen has ever gone on to win at Wimbledon in the same year, though Michael Stich, Richard Krajicek and Lleyton Hewitt all lifted both titles at different stages of their careers.
Pat Rafter, the champion in 2000, went on to reach the final at the All England Club the following month.
Murray is stepping up his rehabilitation this week by practising at Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy near Nice.
Long road: Andy Murray is stepping up his comeback and (inset) with protege Aidan McHugh
On social media he has posted a photograph of himself on the court hitting with Aidan McHugh, a 17-year-old Glaswegian he has been mentoring.
The other possibilities for Murray’s first comeback tournament before Rosmalen would be a new indoor hard-court Challenger event in Loughborough, starting on May 19, and the Surbiton Trophy, which begins on June 2 and marks the start of the grass-court season.
He is keeping an open mind about those events and could yet make a late decision to play in one or both of them, depending on how his recovery goes.
Because of the shortness of
the grass-court season — which for the top players lasts only five weeks despite Wimbledon having moved back — Murray is keen to get in competitive play before the Fever-Tree Championships, which begin at Queen’s Club in London under its new title sponsor on June 18.
Queen’s is normally the only grass-court event Murray plays in the build-up to Wimbledon, but the quality of the 32-strong field is such that the Scot would prefer to go into it with some competitive play under his belt.
As Murray will almost certainly be unseeded going into Queen’s because of his drop down the world rankings, he
could face one of the top seeds in his first match there.
Rafael Nadal, Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov, ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the world respectively, are all lined up to play.
Murray has already fallen to No.29 in the rankings. By the time the draw is made for the Libema Open at Rosmalen he is likely to have fallen out of the world’s top 40 and by the time the Queen’s tournament starts he could be outside the top 150.
However, there will be no shortage of tournaments willing to offer wildcards and he can also use a ‘protected’ world ranking, which would reflect his ranking before he got injured.