ROME TENNIS EVENT TAKES HUGE HIT IN PULLOUTS BY SERENA WILLIAMS AND EXHAUSTED ANDY MURRAY

Written by: Global Chick on 14th May 2015

ROME TENNIS EVENT TAKES HUGE HIT IN PULLOUTS BY SERENA WILLIAMS AND EXHAUSTED ANDY MURRAY

epa04745167 Serena Williams of the USA returns the ball to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia during their second round match for the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 12 May 2015. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI |

Andy Murray and Serena Williams pull out of Rome – The Curse of the double-header tournaments? By Global Chick

It was a day of withdrawals in Rome as two hastily arranged press conferences sent the tennis press scrambling. First in was Andy Murray whose two wins in two tournaments (and in one week, no less) left him fatigued, not surprisingly!

British player Andy Murray returns the ball to Jeremy Chardy of France during their second round match for the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 13 May 2015. EPA/MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI

He described himself as feeling flat in practice on Thursday morning, and did not want to risk anything by continuing in the tournament. He had put off his decision for his opening round (against Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday) until the last possible moment, and although he did win in straight sets, Chardy is not the kind of competitor that makes a win easy, and Murray had to work hard to keep his record on clay-since-getting-married intact.

Talking to BBC Sport, he said: “I’ve played so much over the past 14 days. I’ve played 10 matches with some extremely late finishes and my body needs to rest. I actually felt I played a good match yesterday but my body is tired. I have to listen to that and respect that.”

The Brit will head to Paris with a 10-0 record but of course this week all eyes are on Novak Djokovic, who had a bit of a battle in his first tournament since winning the Monte Carlo Masters and thus wrapping up the first three Masters of the season. He pulled out of Madrid last week to rest for Rome and Roland Garros, so this is a wise move by Murray.

Is Murray a favourite for the French Open? Since his back surgery at the tail end of 2013, his movement and more importantly his recovery on clay has been far better than in recent years, with a run to last year’s French Open semi-final last year. He also said, in Madrid that he was playing better this year than he felt he was performing last year.

Hot on his heels, Serena Williams came in, to announce her withdrawal from the tournament.

Serena Williams of the USA returns the ball to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia during their second round match for the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 12 May 2015. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI

”We have to make the right decisions for the future, not for now,” she said. ”You know I hate, hate quitting, and this isn’t quitting, it’s just making a good decision.

”I was really injured last year, actually, and ended up taking like five days off before Paris and practising just a day or two before the tournament started,” She added. ”And entering a Grand Slam, you never want to enter it like that, especially as defending champion.”

Williams exited last year’s French Open in the second round, with the tournament being won by Maria Sharapova.

Interestingly both Murray and Williams in press last week in Madrid hinted that Rome may suffer in their plans. Williams in particular cryptically said she was scheduled for Rome, with a wry smile, following her defeat at the hands of eventual champion Petra Kvitova.

This year, Roger Federer pulled out of Madrid to free up his schedule, and Madrid saw the withdrawal of Djokovic for the second year in a row. Even press are divided on attending the double-tournaments. They are not cheap to cover, in terms of travel and accommodation for the duration. The schedules are brutal and often people cover one or the other, rather than both.

Madrid was not immune from scheduling woes this year, and with the French Open just around the corner, for both Murray and Williams their decisions make sense as the Slams are their focus.

The European swing is probably the most brutal with ATP Masters and WTA Premier tournaments back to back, then the French Open, then the absurdly rapid turnaround on grass. Even allowing for an extended three week season, a lot of the top WTA players are aiming for both Birmingham and Eastbourne. It’s great for fans when they are there, but equally must be crushingly disappointing when their favourite stars arrive, play a match and then have to opt out to give themselves the best chances for the big prizes.

In this case, we’re hard put to find anyone who disagrees with the decision for both players to sit out the rest of Rome in favour of giving themselves the best chance for the French Open.

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, global chick, Internazionali BNL D'Italia, Rome tennis, Serena Williams, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

May 14, 2015 at 8:40 am

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