Murray withdraws from the French Open
Andy Murray has withdrawn from this year’s French Open.
The second grand slam of the year begins next week, but after struggling to find his best form on clay recently, the Scot will prioritise a busy grass-court schedule in the build-up to Wimbledon.
Murray was beaten in the first round of the Italian Open and earlier this week made another early exit on clay after losing to Stan Wawrinka at an ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux.
The 36-year-old is understood to still be considering which tournaments to target and they may include Surbiton from June 4-11 and then Queen’s from June 19-25. Wimbledon is scheduled to start on July 3.
Murray had struggled for form on clay after proving he was physically in condition to take on the world’s best players with some marathon matches at the Australian Open at the start of the year.
The former world number one, bidding to revive his career after major hip surgery in 2018, came through two five-set victories over Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.
Murray beat Tommy Paul in the final of the ATP Challenger event in Aix-enProvence at the start of this month – his first title in nearly four years – after first-round exits in Monte Carlo and Madrid. But that was followed by his disappointments in the Italian Open in Rome and another Challenger event in Bordeaux.
*Sir Mo Farah’s farewell continued as he finished eighth in the Great Manchester Run 10K on Sunday, the penultimate race of his career.
Britain’s greatest distance runner posted a time of 29 minutes and 11 seconds as he took part in the event for the first time since winning it in 2018.
Farah had previously been in action at the London Marathon last month, finishing ninth.
And following his exploits on Sunday, the 40-year-old is now set to retire after featuring in September’s Great North Run. Farah’s glittering career has seen him claim double Olympic gold over 5,000m and 10,000m at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as six world titles.