Murray: I couldn’t even watch Australian Open
ANDY Murray has revealed he could not bring himself to watch the Australian Open and unfollowed other players on social media after being forced to miss the event.
The former world No.1 was unable to travel to Australia following an untimely bout of coronavirus and, while the rest of the leading names in the sport were doing battle in Melbourne, he was competing at a lower-level Challenger tournament in Italy.
Murray said: “I didn’t watch any because I wanted to be there myself. It was a struggle to be honest. I stopped following all the tennis players I follow on social media and stuff because I just didn’t really want to see it.”
The tournament finished in familiar fashion with Novak Djokovic winning a ninth title thanks to a straight-sets win over Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles final.
It struck another blow for the old guard of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer against the younger generation. Murray said: “I expected the final to be closer to be honest but I also know how good Novak is there and when he’s on his game and obviously highly motivated.
“I saw before the final Medvedev said something along the lines of Novak having immense pressure on him, which is true, but those guys have been at the top of the game, they’ve been dealing with immense pressure their whole careers and they know how to deal with it and perform at their best level when it matters.
“The younger guys, for me, they’ve not shown that they’re particularly close. Obviously what happened at the US Open, [Dominic] Thiem did what he had to do to win the event, but, if Novak hadn’t put a ball through the line judge’s throat, it would be the same outcome I think.”
Murray made the most of his time in Italy, reaching the final before losing to Illya Marchenko. He will play his first ATP Tour event of the season this week at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier and he remains bullish about his hopes as he continues to work his way back from his long-term injury problems.
“It was good to get the five matches,” said the 33-year-old. “I found it tricky conditions to play there to be honest. In terms of the level of tennis, it was at times OK. I think around the quarters or something I was feeling a little bit tired and then actually played a really good match in the semi-finals and felt fine and then I actually felt fine on the finals day and then when the match started I just felt very heavy-legged and I didn’t deal with it well at all.
“But I guess it’s kind of understandable, I hadn’t played many matches in the last five months and was coming off two weeks where I basically wasn’t allowed to do anything because of the virus. And physically in terms of pain I felt good. My hips and stuff were good.
“I play in practise with lots of top players and I know how I get on against them. If I was getting smoked when I was practising, I wouldn’t keep going through it. But I know the level I am playing at.
“I still feel like I can compete for big events. I wish I was able to show that in Australia. I was ready to do that. No question.”
Negotiating coronavirusrelated travel restrictions is another headache with which all tennis players are having to become familiar.
Murray could shed the virus for some weeks to come and revealed he tested positive on arrival in Italy, while his journey to France was delayed as he waited for a test.
“It’s challenging and tricky but that’s the situation we’re in right now and all the players are in it,” he said.
I stopped following all tennis players
JOE Root has been England’s batting linchpin against Sri Lanka and
India this winter but
Graham Thorpe believes it is time for others to come to the fore and lighten the load on the Test captain’s shoulders.
Root is averaging 90.37 in four Tests this year, with first-innings scores of 228 and 186 laying the groundwork for a 2-0 win in Sri Lanka while another double ton went a long way to helping England upset the odds in the series opener against India.
There have been supporting roles, most noticeably when Dom Sibley battled his way to 87 in the first Test in Chennai, but Root’s first misstep on the subcontinent coincided with a crushing 317-run defeat as India levelled the series last week.
No touring batsman accumulated more than Moeen Ali’s 49 runs across two innings, magnifying Root’s importance to England ahead of the pink-ball Test, which gets under way on Wednesday at the newly-built Sardar Patel Stadium.
But Thorpe has called on the rest of the top-order to relieve some of the burden on Root in Ahmedabad this week. Asked how crucial it was for someone to do so, the England assistant coach replied: “Very important.
“Joe has been in really good form this winter but it is important.
“We constantly talk around trying to build the partnerships and hopefully that leads to getting firstinnings runs, which will be crucial.
“We fell well short in the last Test match so clearing the minds and looking forward to this match.
“I’ve encouraged the players to view it as a challenge and one which they should embrace and excite them because if they do well and score runs against this Indian attack in their own country, they know they’ve earned their runs.”