Murray has his sights on SW19
ANDY MURRAY is back on a tennis court and is planning to be fit for Wimbledon, his mother Judy revealed last night. The former world No 1, who has not played competitively since Wimbledon last year, had a hip operation in January. He has been undergoing rehabilitation over the past few months, but had a setback to his recovery in April which sparked fears of him missing out on SW19.
This year’s tournament starts in less than a month but Judy said: “He’s been back on the court in the last couple of days.
“His goal was always to try and be ready for the grass-court season and that is still his goal.”
Murray could play at the grass-court Libema Open in Rosmalen, in the Netherlands, which starts on Monday, but Judy said he will only play at Wimbledon if he is 100 per cent ready. She said: “It takes time to get back to top form. The most important thing is he gets fit again for the long term.”
Murray is due to make an official announcement on his plans today.
THE big grudge match was not to be, as the showdown the whole of tennis had been waiting for was called off because of a sore chest muscle.
The queen was back, as the posters outside Roland Garros proclaimed, but just as Serena Williams prepared to face bitter rival Maria Sharapova, her body let her down.
With less than an hour to go before she was due to take to Philippe Chatrier Court, Williams pulled out with a pectoral muscle injury that meant she could
not, she said, even serve a ball.
Her withdrawal raises questions about whether Williams, who was playing her first Grand Slam since giving birth to daughter Olympia in September, will be fit enough to play at Wimbledon, which starts in less than a month.
Williams, dressed in black at the press conference, said she would have an MRI scan on the injury before making a final decision on whether she will be at the All England Club next month.
“I have been having some issues with my pectoral muscle, which has unfortunately been getting worse to the point where right now I can’t actually serve,” said Williams.
“It’s kind of hard to play when I can’t physically serve. The first time I felt it was against Julia Gorges in my last match. It was really painful.”
Williams, 36, clearly aggravated the problem when she took part in her women’s doubles match with sister Venus on Sunday night, which they lost in three sets to Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
Williams said: “I tried a lot of different tapings during that match, lots of different types of support to see how it would feel under match circumstances. It didn’t really get a lot better.
“I’m going to get an MRI. I won’t know about Wimbledon until I get those results.”
It meant she was unable to add to a run of 18 straight wins against Sharapova, with whom her war of words had hotted up in recent days over comments made in the Russian’s autobiography.
Williams added: “It’s very difficult because I love playing Maria. It’s a match I always get up for.”
Sharapova said: “I am disappointed Serena had to withdraw. I was looking forward to the match. I wish her a speedy recovery.”
Sharapova now faces third seed Garbine Muguruza after she progressed to the last eight when Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko pulled out after just two games of their match with a thigh injury.
No1 seed Simona Halep reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Elise Mertens, but Russian Daria Kasatkina caused an upset when she beat No 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-6, 6-3.
The last French player left in the tournament, Caroline Garcia, lost 6-2, 6-3 to Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
Rafael Nadal, bidding for his 11th Roland Garros title, eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 win over Maximilian Marterer.