Henman Commends Murray For Skipping French Open To Prepare For Wimbledon

Written by: Staff on 23rd May 2013

Henman Commends Murray For Skipping French Open To Prepare For Wimbledon

epa03693942 British tennis player Andy Murray celebrates after defeating French Gilles Simon during their Madrid Open tennis tournament round of 16 match played at the Caja Magica pavilion in Madrid, central Spain, 09 May 2013. EPA/ALBERTO MARTIN |

Britain expects its’ best man to do his duty on the fields that mean most to the nation…and in Andy Murray’s case that means Wimbledon. So Tim Henman, the Scot’s predecessor as national tennis hero insists Murray has done the right thing by erring on the side of caution and pulling out of the French Open because of lower back issues.

Henman, like Murray a former semi-finalist at Roland Garros and also a player plagued by back problems throughout his career, sympathizes with the reigning US Open and Olympic champion’s plight, and appreciates the decision not to play must have been an extremely tough one as no-show will end a run of contesting 22 successive Grand Slam events, his last absence coming at Wimbledon in 2007.

But Henman insisted common sense had to be brought to bear after world no.2 Murray underwent numerous examinations, tests and scans in London and Bristol. “It won’t have been easy for him because no-one wants to miss a Major but Roland Garros is the biggest challenge for him when he is 100 per cent fit, let alone 60 or 70,” said Henman who now serves on the All England Club’s Board of Management.

“Andy is much better served making sure he is completely healthy for the grass and getting totally ready for that. I do think he will play Wimbledon and very much hope he does.

“If he is 100 per cent it’s his best chance yet. He’s got a Slam now, reached the final and won the Olympics final against the guy who beat him in that, he is a better player than he was a year ago.”

Henman is not entirely surprised Murray has encountered physical problems on clay and says it is a common problem amongst players who are not reared on the surface. He said: “My body is different to his, but I know how clay puts strain on your hips and lower back, it doesn’t matter that you are incredibly strong like he is.

“There’s a lot of talk about how Rafa has to manage himself on hard courts and it may become the same for Andy on clay.”

Murray suffered back issues playing the European clay court circuit last year and needed several deep rooted injections in his lower vertebrae in order to be fit for the grass court season where he reached the Wimbledon final and took Olympic gold.

He was forced to withdraw from his match with Marcel Granollers at the Internazionale BNL d’Italia in Rome last week on his 26th birthday after squaring the contest at one set all with an impressive performance in the second set tie-break. Immediately afterwards he said he would be “very surprised” if he would be fit for the French Open.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, British tennis news, French Open, Tennis News, Tim Henman, Wimbledon