No Roland-Garros for Andy Murray as Brit shifts focus to grass

The Brit lost in the first round of the three Masters Series events on clay but won an ATP Challenger in France earrlier this month

Britain’s Andy Murray at the 2023 Italian Open Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

May 21, 2023

Former world No 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has pulled out of Roland-Garros, which begins in Paris next week. The Brit will now shift his focus to the grass court season, leading up to Wimbledon, where he is a two-time former champion.

Murray had played in Paris only once in the past five editions (losing in the first round in 2020) but had played a full schedule on clay as he wanted to play in Paris one final time.

Confirmation that @andy_murray will not play at @rolandgarros – focusing his attention on what is likely to be a busy grass-court season.
— Simon Cambers (@scambers73) May 21, 2023

The Brit, who admitted that his camp was divided whether he should play in Paris or not, lost in the first round in the three clay court Masters events – Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome – as well his opening match at the Bordeaux Challenger last week. But he did win the ATP Challenger in Aix-en-Provence earlier this month.

The 36-year-old Brit is ranked 42nd in the world and was hoping a few wins in Paris would help bumps his ranking to earn him a seeding at Wimbledon.

In an interview last month, Murray said he thought he had a chance to win Wimbledon, although he agreed that not many others might think the same.

“I would like to play [Roland-Garros] because I don’t know if I’ll get another opportunity,” Murray said. “I also have ambitions of competing for Wimbledon titles and that sort of stuff. I know sitting here today that probably doesn’t sound realistic but I do believe that’s a possibility. It’s impossible to say what the right thing to do is but obviously it’s a Grand Slam [the French Open]. I would like the opportunity to play.”

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