Andy Murray to play Barcelona Open

[JRAJ1988]

Andy Murray has elected to enter next week's Barcelona Open in an attempt to get much-needed match time on clay ahead of the French Open. I admire his will to play his way into form.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2...barcelona-open-attempt-get-clay-court-season/
@Mainad

The world No 1 suffered a shock third-round defeat in Monte Carlo to Albert Ramos-Viñolas on Thursday, and had been scheduled to play in just Madrid and Rome ahead of the French Open.

But the early Monte Carlo exit, coupled with the need to get back to full sharpness after suffering with fitness and health issues this year, have convinced Murray to play in the Barcelona event, which is worth 500 ranking points.

When pressed on his plans yesterday, Murray said: "I’ll speak to my team a little bit about that. I need to decide now whether I go and try to get matches or whether I try to get myself in better shape physically, put as much work in as I can.

"If I was to play Budapest or Barcelona and do well, I would not really have a chance to train much between now and the French Open. Whereas if I wasn’t to play next week, I get the chance to put in some hard work, which is maybe what’s needed.

 

[Krish872007]

Yeah, not so sure about this. He looks like he's still nursing that injury. But he knows his body better than any of us do, and it looks like he's actively targeting that French Open title.

 

[abmk]

He has Rome and Madrid still to prepare for RG. Why does he need to play Barcelona ?

 

[Mainad]

Well, fingers crossed it works out for him and he can play himself into some kind of form although I'm a bit nervous that another early exit will put too much of a dent in his confidence ahead of the remaining 3 big clay events where he's defending a lot of points.

 

[Mainad]

He has Rome and Madrid still to prepare for RG. Why does he need to play Barcelona ?

He is defending back to back finals and a title in Madrid and Rome so I expect he wants to get as many clay matches as possible under his belt beforehand. He only managed 2 in MC.

 

[tennisaddict]

Bad idea. You have Rome and Madrid still.

Guaranteed Murray loses before R4 at RG

Guess he ends career with 2 clay titles , including 1 MM

 

[Mainad]

Bad idea. You have Rome and Madrid still.

Guaranteed Murray loses before R4 at RG

Guess he ends career with 2 clay titles , including 1 MM

Well, he already has 3 (Madrid, Rome and Munich)!

What's MM?

 

[Fedeonic]

Guess he ends career with 2 clay titles , including 1 MM

He actually has 3 titles, Munich and Madrid 2015, Roma 2016.

 

[Krish872007]

Well, he already has 3 (Madrid, Rome and Munich)!

What's MM?

Presumably stands for "mickey mouse", referring to the Munich title - predictable response from a Murray hater

He can win more if he plays his best. French Open still a possibility.

 

[tennisaddict]

Well, he already has 3 (Madrid, Rome and Munich)!

What's MM?

Mickey Mouse Munich

 

[Mainad]

Mickey Mouse Munich

Okay, so he already has 2 big claycourt titles and a 'Mickey Mouse'. If my maths is correct, that still makes for 3 claycourt titles.

 

[Steve0904]

Okay, so he already has 2 big claycourt titles and a 'Mickey Mouse'. If my maths is correct, that still makes for 3 claycourt titles.

MM's don't count on TTW, DUH. Especially when Murray wins them. Come on Mainad!

 

[Mainad]

MM's don't count on TTW, DUH. Especially when Murray wins them. Come on Mainad!

Oops, silly me!

Spoiler

Although I do think using 'Mickey Mouse' as a derogatory term is an undeserved insult to The Great Mickey!

 

[Tennisanity]

Maybe last year was just a fluke.

 

[rainingaces]

Maybe last year was just a fluke.

I like the way you think.

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Good news. Maybe I will try to attend the event this year, hope he gets far. Haven't watched Andy live yet. But more importantly I hope he will be healthy for the rest of this season, it's never nice to have a top player struggling for a longer period.

 

[SLD76]

Seems to me he needs to rest and fully heal


Maybe take a page from Federer's book and de-prioritize the clay season and get ready for W/USO

 

[kishnabe]

Maybe not good for Nadal. Barcelona to Nadal, is Basel to Federer.

Cup is half in the hands.

Nadal would squash the Clay mugs, but Murray might be a big test.

 

[duaneeo]

I guess injury had nothing to do with Andy's early MC exit.

 

[Sartorius]

Seems to me he needs to rest and fully heal

If that's what he actually needs to do, Murray has a team around him who would make him take that route. I assume he wouldn't take this decision without their approval.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Bad decision. Based on Muzz's anemic serving at both the Fed exo and MC, his elbow is not completely healed. If he somehow manages to make the final, Nadal would absolutely eviscerate him.

 

[Meles]

Andy Murray has elected to enter next week's Barcelona Open ....

When pressed on his plans yesterday, Murray said: "I’ll speak to my team a little bit about that. I need to decide now whether I go and try to get matches or whether I try to get myself in better shape physically, put as much work in as I can.

"If I was to play Budapest or Barcelona and do well, I would not really have a chance to train much between now and the French Open. Whereas if I wasn’t to play next week, I get the chance to put in some hard work, which is maybe what’s needed.

What on earth? He took the wildcard, but sounds like it was a 50/50 decision or maybe he shouldn't have taken it. It looks like he had to make a pretty quick decision without consulting his team. Sounds like he just really wanted to play Barcelona for some reason.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

Murray will overplay once again before RG and will bomb out before the real important part of the tournament begins.

Nothing new.