I’VE NEVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE THIS MATCH
Now Murray faces his nemesis Stan again
ANDY MURRAY has confessed he has never been the same player since his last appearance at the French Open.
The former world No.1 first suffered his hip problem in the French capital in 2017 when he went down in five “brutal” sets to Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals (right).
Now, two ops and over three years later, the Scottish wild-card will face his fellow Grand Slam winner once more in his first match back in Paris tomorrow.
“Obvously it was an amusing draw,” said Murray, down to No.111 in the world rankings.
“It was a very tough match against Stan a few years ago. It was a brutal one. I knew something was up before the Kei Nishikori match in the quarterfinal. At the end of the Stan match, in the fifth set, I was struggling to push up on my serve and struggling to move to my forehand. I never felt the same after that match.” Murray feared he would have to retire after the 2019 Australian Open but made his Grand Slam singles return in New York last month, exiting in the second round.
His clay-court preparation has been hampered by tendonitis in his left hip flexor and a delay in the return of his Covid-19 test.
The 2016 French Open finalist, who beat No.16 seed Wawrinka in their last meeting in the European Open final last year, said: “I have to be realistic. I’ve practised for 10 days on clay in three-and-a-half years.
“I need to not expect too much from myself and just enjoy playing at the French Open again.
“Getting to play against Stan again is brilliant. In terms of what I expect to do at the tournament, it would probably have been nicer to play someone different at the beginning, and potentially build my way into the tournament.
“But you win against Stan in the first round and it can open things up and make you feel much better. So we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”
World No.34 Dan Evans will face world No.35 Nishikori in his opening match tomorrow.
“It is probably the hardest draw I could have got,” said the No.32 seed.