MURRAY: I’M BACK
TENNIS: FRENCH OPEN World No.1 has found his form
® from IAIN STEWART in Paris
ANDY MURRAY has warned his rivals not to write him off.
Poor form coming into Roland Garros meant few considered the world No.1 a realistic contender for a first French Open success.
But having shown signs of being close to his best against Juan Martin del Potro on Saturday, he goes into today’s fourth-round clash with Karen Khachanov believing he is back on track.
“I wasn’t playing well enough last week to win the tournament,” said Murray. “When I was practising and stuff, I wasn’t playing well enough.
“But things can change very quickly – you don’t become a bad tennis player overnight.
“It can only take one or two good practices and things can turn around very quickly. I always felt like I could turn it around.”
Murray’s match against Khachanov will be their first competitive meeting, but the Scot has already practised with the Armenia-born player three times in the last couple of years.
And Murray, who beat Del Potro 7-6 7-5 6-0, says he has sharpened up mentally again.
“In the matches here, I’ve been more switched on,” he said. “I didn’t play perfect tennis in the first two rounds and I didn’t play perfectly against Juan Martin del Potro.
“But it gives you a lot better chance of turning your form around and winning matches, just by playing smart, because even when I’m not playing well, I can still win matches against top players.
“I’m very pleased I’m playing the way I am now because a lot of people wouldn’t have thought that I would get to this stage.
“So I’m happy I’ve managed to turn it around. The further that you go, the better you start to feel, the more confidence you get and you are in the second week of a Slam, so anything is possible.
“Why not set the bar as high as possible? I want to try and go as far as possible.”
Rafa Nadal wasted little time in advancing his pursuit of a 10th French Open title by demolishing fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-2 6-2 to book his place in the last eight.
Venus Williams’ hopes of adding a first French Open title to her collection of seven Grand Slams ended after the 36-year-old was beaten 5-7 6-2 6-1 by Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.
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