Murray Says He Feels Better And Wants To Be Back In Competition

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 14th June 2013

Murray Says He Feels Better And Wants To Be Back In Competition

epa03743369 Britain's Andy Murray in action against Marinko Matosevic of Australia during a third round Aegon Championships tennis match at the Queen's Club in London, Britain, 13 June 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Andy Murray admitted that missing out on the French Open was a lot more painful than he ever thought possible. The world no.2 had contested six straight years of Grand Slam tournaments before missing out on Roland Garros with lower back issues.

Murray’s healing process appears to have worked as he came through one and a half matches in the space of just a few hours to reach the AEGON Championships quarterfinals, an event he has previously won twice.

But the hours spent watching from home instead of playing reassured him of his love for the sport. “It can be easy to take things for granted sometimes,” said the 26 year-old who is expected to be seeded second for Wimbledon.

“I missed the French Open. It was difficult watching and not being there. Once you have an injury and have to spend three or four hours a day with the physiotherapists, doing rehab and basically watching tennis on the TV, you realize it’s a huge part of your life.

“However I knew in the back of my mind after playing in Madrid – and the couple of days before Rome – that something wasn’t quite right with my back. Then for a few days after Rome I was struggling to get up and down stairs and to walk around. That’s when I realized I probably wasn’t going to be able to do a whole lot for a week or 10 days.

“Once the decision was made to pull out of the French I moved on from it fairly quickly, but it didn’t make missing one of the biggest tournaments of the year any easier. It just made me more determined to get myself fit and back on the match court as soon as possible.”

Murray revealed in his BBC column that he made the hours he spent on his couch watching the action in Roland Garros productive. “I can watch matches just to enjoy them, but sometimes I’ll take notes on players and things I might see in their games that I could do against them, or how guys are hurting them,” he revealed.