Return to Roland part of Murray wind-down plan

Andy Murray thinks he has one more Roland Garros in him as the veteran Scot plots the slow end to his ATP career this summer.

Murray said on Wednesday after a second-round loss in Dubai that he’s pointing towards a summer shutdown of a career which brought him three Grand Slam titles – two at Wimbledon – and the world No. 1 ranking.

He said that playing the French Open for the first time since 2020 is one of his scenarios.

Murray’s last appearance on the Paris clay ended in the first round during the special autumn COVID edition; his last solid showing was a 2017 semi-final before his legendary hip problems kicked in.

Murray said that preparing and competing in Paris would not be expected to affect his chances on the grass at Wimbledon, which follows three weeks later.

 ” (To a lot of people) Wimbledon’s considered to be the biggest tournament in the sport,” he said after losing 6-2, 6-4 to Ugo Humbert

“Being British, Wimbledon is obviously an extremely special tournament.”

But the two majors are not mutually exclusive for the 36-year-old.

“The last few years I’ve tried to give myself maybe better preparation for the grass season, but that also doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to play really well on the grass.

“I’ve had experiences throughout my career where I didn’t play the French Open: in 2013 and I won Wimbledon.

“I also played the French Open and did really well in 2016 (finals against Novak Djokovic).

“I don’t think it makes a huge difference if you get an extra week’s practice or so on the grass.”

He confirmed: “I would like to play (Roland Garros) one more time; it’s a tournament, I like playing.

“If you want to do well at the Olympics (at the same venue) , you probably are going to have to play some tournaments and get matches in on the clay.

“Even if the Olympics was not after Wimbledon, I would still want to play it.”

Main photo:- Olympics Tennis London 2012,Andy Murray – (GBR) – Gold, Roger Federer – (SUI) – Silver Juan Martin Del Potro – (ARG) – Bronze – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd