I’ve felt so flat since being the world No 1
MIKE DICKSON
ANDY MURRAY spoke yesterday of how he was trying to ‘enjoy’ the struggles he is going through, but it did not look like he was succeeding in practice.
On Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros, there was a fair amount of stomping and cursing as he played practice points against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, with Ivan Lendl in attendance.
Later, Murray conceded that he is not in a great place ahead of the start of the French Open tomorrow, having been laid up with a heavy cold this week.
Earlier in the day, the draw had lined him up with a possible third-round clash with Juan Martin del Potro, although it would be unwise to look even that far ahead.
Aside from various ailments, the world No1 admitted that, at times, he has felt ‘flat’ during matches, having climbed to the top of the rankings at the end of 2016.
And he compared it to the feelings that he experienced after triumphing at Wimbledon for the first time four years ago.
‘When I won Wimbledon the first time, I felt like that was why I was playing,’ said Murray, who will face world No 85 Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in the first round of the French.
‘I had achieved my biggest goal. It was, like, you feel a bit lost afterwards. You need to then reset your goals and, at times, there has been a little bit of that.
‘I was very pumped and motivated for Australia. But then after that, there is a big gap between there and Roland Garros. That can happen sometimes.
‘I need to accept that I’m struggling and then find a way to get through it. I will get through it, I’m sure of that. When that happens, I don’t know. Hopefully it happens in a few days. If it doesn’t, maybe it happens during the grass season.
‘I need to enjoy my struggle a little bit and that will help me get through it quicker.’
Murray also had a swift response to the notion that Lendl’s absence from his side since Australia has been an issue. He pointed out that, bar the US Open, he hardly saw him in the second half of last year.
‘Certainly no one mentioned that at any stage during the period between Wimbledon and the Tour Finals last year and I did okay,’ he said of his rise to No1 in the world.
The 30 year-old Scot, who is in the opposite half of the draw from tournament favourite Rafael Nadal and the improving Novak Djokovic, will be one of five British singles players at Roland Garros.
The other men are Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund and Aljaz Bedene. Jo Konta, the seventh seed in the women’s event, has something of a benign opener against Su-Wei Hsieh, the world No 109 from Taipei.
But Heather Watson’s run of appearing in 24 straight Grand Slam singles events ended when she was beaten 6-0, 6-3 by Holland’s Richel Hogenkamp in the final qualifying round.
Meanwhile, Petra Kvitova confirmed that she will play for the first time since being stabbed in the hand in her apartment in the Czech Republic in December.
The two-time Wimbledon champion said that she had already won ‘the biggest fight of my career’ by making it back a month ahead of schedule.
She admitted that her hand is still not perfect, and there remain mental scars, too.
‘I didn’t sleep well the days after, but I wasn’t really staying alone,’ she said. ‘I have been with my family or coaches or with friends.
‘I don’t really have nightmares. At the beginning, I was really feeling really weird when I went in the city or somewhere. I was always staring at the guys and looking if there are no strangers there.
‘But, with time, it’s better. Of course I’m more, how do you say, more actively watching the people around me.’
To date, no one has been apprehended following the incident.