Andy Murray withdraws from French Open as Daniil Medvedev wins in Rome

Andy Murray has withdrawn from this year’s French Open. The second grand slam of the year begins next week, but after struggling to find his best form on clay recently, the Scot will prioritise a busy grass-court schedule in the build-up to Wimbledon.

Murray was beaten in the first round of the Italian Open and earlier this week made another early exit on clay after losing to Stan Wawrinka at an ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux.

The 36-year-old is understood to still be considering which tournaments to target and they may include Surbiton from 4-11 June and then Queen’s from 19-25 June. Wimbledon is scheduled to start on July 3.

Murray had struggled for form on clay after proving he was physically in condition to take on the world’s best players with some marathon matches at the Australian Open at the start of the year.

The former world No 1, bidding to revive his career after major hip surgery in 2018, came through two five-set victories over Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

Murray beat Tommy Paul in the final of the ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence at the start of this month – his first title in nearly four years – after first-round exits in Monte Carlo and Madrid.

But that was followed by his disappointments in the Italian Open in Rome and another Challenger event in Bordeaux.

British women’s No 2 Jodie Burrage has also withdrawn from the French Open, where she was due to participate in qualifying, after failing to recover in time from a niggle.

With Emma Raducanu sidelined long term following operations on both her wrists and an ankle, 106th-placed Burrage was set to be Britain’s highest-ranked woman in Paris.

She is hoping to return for the grass-court event in Surbiton beginning on 4 June and will overtake Raducanu after the French Open irrespective of her results.

Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev beat rising Danish star Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 in the Italian Open final on Sunday for the first clay-court trophy of his career.

Medvedev is known for his prowess on hard courts, with 18 of his previous 19 titles coming on that surface — with the other on grass in Mallorca. He is the 2021 U.S. Open winner and has had a spell at No 1 in the rankings.

But the 27-year-old must now be considered a contender when the French Open starts on Sunday.

There’s room for a new champion at Roland Garros after 14-time winner Rafael Nadal announced last week that he won’t be competing in the tournament because of a hip injury that has sidelined him since January.

After his win yesterday, Medvedev said: “I didn’t believe much I can win a Masters 1000 on clay in my career because usually I hated it and I didn’t feel good on it, nothing was working.

Before this tournament already in Madrid and Monte Carlo I was not feeling too bad. I didn’t have any big tantrums and was like ‘OK, let’s continue’ and here I felt amazing in practice.

“But then you need to play the toughest opponents in the world and try to make it. I’m really happy that I managed to do it and prove to myself and everybody that I’m capable.”

Rune, 20, who eliminated six-time Rome champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, should also feel confident for Paris. He was also the runner-up to Andrey Rublev at the Monte Carlo Masters last month and then won a clay title in Munich.

The world rankings out on Monday see Medvedev rise to No 2, Carlos Alcaraz at No 1 and Djokovic down to No 3 – and these will also be their seedings for the French Open.