Andy Murray was last night forced to withdraw from next week's French Open after failing to recover sufficiently from an ongoing back problem which was exacerbated during the Rome Masters last week.
The injury has been causing discomfort since he began training for Rome, although the problems has since grown to become a right pain in the backside.
The Scot – who is No.2 in the world rankings – had been pessimistic about his chances of competing at Rolland Garros after he succumbed to injury during a match against Marcel Granollers in Rome last Wednesday, stating he would be "very surprised" if he made it to Paris. He has since met with medical specialists on Monday and again yesterday to assess whether he would be able to take part in the second grand slam of the year.
The prognosis for his injury was not promising enough that Murray could be guaranteed that he would be able to perform at his peak when the grass-court season – and Wimbledon, in particular – rolls around, with the Scot electing to err on the side of caution and skip the trip to Paris.
"It's a really tough decision and I love playing in Paris, but after seeking medical advice, I am not fit to compete," said Murray, who used injections to quell a similar complaint in the lead up to Wimbledon last year. "Apologies to the organisers and thanks to everyone for the messages of support. Now my complete focus is on getting back on the court as soon as possible."
Aches and pains are considered an occupational hazard of being a professional sportsman, of course, and Murray has intimated before that he seldom feels fully fit when competing. His progress would suggest that he hides it well, although his indifferent form on clay is often much harder to disguise.
The Scot has only reached the semi-finals of the French Open once (in 2011) and has failed to progress as far as the last eight in three of the last six years in which he has entered. He will likely have been acutely aware that grass has proven far more fertile for success – his defeat in the quarter-finals last year having been followed up by his first appearance in the Wimbledon final, a gold medal in the Olympic Games at SW19, and his inaugural grand slam title at the US Open.
His decision to withdraw appeared to be backed by Goran Ivanisevic last night, with the 2001 Wimbledon champion able to envisage the Scot becoming stuck in the clay. "Even if he is 100% fit, he's not the favourite to win there, especially now," he said.
"I have to go with [Rafael] Nadal. There's only one guy who can beat him there – [Novak] Djokovic. But when it's sunny it's very tough to beat Nadal."
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