End of Season for Injured Del Potro, whilst Murray Believes Ready for Bercy

Written by: Staff on 7th November 2011

End of Season for Injured Del Potro, whilst Murray Believes Ready for Bercy

Injured British tennis player Andy Murray leaves the pitch of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, 02 November 2011. Murray has pulled out of the tournament because of a leg injury. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS |

End Of Season For Injured Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro, beaten finalist in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals two years ago, will now definitely not qualify as a member of this year’s top eight after pulling out of this week’s BNP Paribas Masters at Paris’ Bercy because of an injured shoulder.

The 23 year-old Argentine, currently tenth in the race for a place after staging a late season run, would appear to see the Davis Cup final against Spain in Seville on December 2 thru 4 a far more important engagement.

Three years ago in the final against Spain staged in Mar Del Plata, Del Potro was the brunt of a distinct cold shoulder from Argentine team-mate David Nalbandian. The more experienced team member was upset that Del Potro chose to travel to Shanghai to contest the Tennis Masters Cup rather than remain in Argentina to prepare for the final.

Subsequently Del Potro was distinctly below par after the long journey to and from China.

Del Potro is insistent his Paris no-show is legitimate and claims he aggravated the injury so badly that immediate rest was necessary when losing to eventual champion Marcel Granollers in the Valencia Open semi-final on Saturday.

“My shoulder started bothering me in Valencia and it got worse after each round,” said Del Potro who needed to reach the final of the Paris event to guarantee qualification for London. However there are many other factors that could affect the final line-up such as injury doubts over American Mardy Fish who is suffering from an injured hamstring that forced him to quit after just one game against James Blake at last week’s Swiss Indoors.

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Murray Believes He Is Ready For Bercy

Andy Murray believes he will be ready to play at the Paris Masters after pulling out at the last minute with a glut injury last week’s Basel tournament. The world No. 3 had been hoping to continue his momentum from three straight Asian title last month, but lost his way a bit when he got back to Europe.

After ditching Basel on the shortest of notice after asking and receiving a wild card entry, the Scot has fronted up in Paris all smiles and keen on his chances at the last event of the ATP regular season.

He is also determined to not be bothered by what can generously be called a harsh Paris crowd which is never hesitant about passing judgment on players. “If you’re not playing well or giving your best effort, then sometimes the crowd can get on top of you a little.

“But that’s a good thing! In football, crowds get on top of different players every other week, and I like it. It adds a bit of pressure to play well, and they’re the ones paying for tickets.”

He added: “I really enjoy it here, the Centre Court is fantastic – great court, great atmosphere. I was looking at the draw and there are very few easy matches. It’s a very strong tournament with a lot of depth, so it’s definitely up there as one of the strongest Masters Series.”

DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE