Murray set to miss French Open
ANDY MURRAY will not play in the French Open after deciding to focus on the grass-court season instead.
The former world No.1 made his return from a groin injury with a training week and t wo doubles matches in Rome and had been expected to play singles next week. But he is still feeling some discomfort and has headed back home for more rehab and to begin training on his favourite surface, with full fitness for Wimbledon now the clear goal.
Murray had been planning to take a wild card into one of the ATP tournaments in Geneva or Lyon this week but it emerged yesterday that he had turned one down for the Swiss event, raising questions about his prospects of playing at Roland Garros. The Scot – who has played just one match on clay since 2017 – had entered qualifying for the Grand Slam but could also have been given a wild card had he proved his fitness.
It is yet another setback for Murray, who turned 34 yesterday and has played just three tourlevel singles matches this year. He suffered an untimely bout of coronavirus that prevented him travelling to the Australian Open and then picked up the groin injury in his sleep ahead of the Miami Open in March.
Murray’s next tournament is due to be the cinch Championships at Queen’s Club beginning on June 14, although there is an ATP event the previous week in Stuttgart and a secondtier Challenger in Nottingham that he could seek entry to.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic will take on Rafael Nadal in the Italian Open final for a sixth time after backing up a dramatic victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas by seeing off home hope Lorenzo Sonego.
Djokovic somehow came through a t wo- day thriller against Tsitsipas in the quarter- finals, eventually winning 4- 6, 7- 5, 7- 5, and then another three- setter against Sonego, with a 6- 3, 6- 7
( 7- 5), 6- 2 victory.
Nadal’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over giant American Reilly Opelka came in his 500th match on clay and extended his record to 458 wins.
In the men’s doubles, Britain’s Joe Salisbury is through to his first Masters final after he and American partner Rajeev Ram won twice in a day. Last year’s Australian Open champions first defeated fourth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 10-2, in a match held over from Friday and they faced Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop, winning 6-4 6-4. In today’s final, they will play Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.