Melbourne aturnoff for Murray
Sir 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 could not travel following an untimely bout of coronavirus.
He said: "I didn't watch any because I wanted to be there myself. It was a struggle. I stopped following all the players I follow on social media because I just didn't really want to see it."
Sir 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 number one 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 on Sunday in familiar fashionwithnovakdjokovicwinning 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 linejudge'sthroat,itwouldbe 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-yearold. "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 days 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 practice 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. "Provided I can stay fit for a period of time and get good practice and matches in, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to compete with the best players.”
Tiger Woods is facing a race against time to get both his body and game in shape for the Masters in seven weeks’ time.
In an interview with CBS' Jim Nantz on Sunday as host of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, the 15-time major winner (inset) revealed he had been unable to put in much work since undergoing a fifth back surgery in December.
"I'm feeling fine, a little stiff," said Woods. "I've got one more MRI scheduled, and then I can start doing more activities.
"I'm still in the gym doing the mundane rehab activities before gravitating towards more."
Asked what he had done specifically in terms of golf, he added: “I have lengthened my putter (laughing). I’ve gone to the same length as my sand wedge. I do a lot of putting drills hitting the equator (of the ball) with my sand wedge and I figured, why don’t I lengthen my putter and do the same thing, and it has helped.”
Woods, who landed his fifth Masters win in 2019, underwent a microdiscectomy just before Chritsmas, having already required that procedure once in 2014 and twice in 2015.
He then had serious spinal fusion in April 2017, from which he returned less than a year later.
"God, I hope so,” he replied, to being asked by Nantz if he thought he would be around for the final round of the Masters in early April.
“But I've got to get there first. A lot of it is based on my surgeons, my doctors, my therapists and making sure that I do it correctly, as this is the only back I’ve got and I don't have much wiggle room left.”