|
Just days after winning the second-tier
Aix-en-Provence Challenger Tour crown, his first title since
2019 and first on clay since 2016, Murray delivered another
inconsistent claycourt performance in a 6-4 4-6 6-4 defeat by
Fognini.
Murray, who had been hoping to boost his world ranking with a
deep run in Rome and be seeded for Roland Garros, said it had
been a "pretty patchy match" against the Italian.
"There was some good stuff in there, but also some pretty
average stuff," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian. "He
played well in the third set. My level was OK, but he played
really well in the third."
Three-times Grand Slam champion Murray, who also suffered early
defeats in Monte Carlo and Madrid, has not played at Roland
Garros since 2020 following two hip surgeries.
In the past he has opted to skip tournaments during the
claycourt season to focus on the grasscourt swing heading into
Wimbledon.
Murray said he was undecided about what he would do next and
would discuss with his team whether to take a wild card into
another tournament before next week.
"I'd still like to play but we did agree that we would talk and
make a decision as a team after Rome," he added.
"That is what I wanted, to see how my game felt, how I was
playing and physically how I was doing in some of the longer
matches before making a definitive call on it.
"We'll have those discussions in the next few days."
The French Open, the second Grand Slam of the season, begins on
May 28.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
