Murray advances at Roland-Garros

By Alex Veeneman on June 2, 2012


Andy Murray at the French Open last year at the Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris.
(Photo courtesy of Flickr user ckoneill)

This year’s French Open hasn’t been easy for Andy Murray. The Scottish player showed concerns at his May 31 match against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the face of a back spasm (Murray had been known to have a history of back problems which had forced him to pull out of just recently a tournament in Spain), but came back to defeat Nieminen, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, marking a triumphant win in the face of a significant set back.

Earlier in Paris Murray also secured a decisive win against the Colombian Santiago Giraldo, with his display showing how an athlete plays a match. Murray beat Giraldo 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and advances to the final 16. “I’m very happy. I was just trying to make sure I got myself in the best shape possible for the match,” Murray told the BBC after the match. “I was really surprised with the way I served because that was one of the things that was giving me trouble the other day and I hardly hit any in practice yesterday.”

As Murray moves forward, the history of back problems may cause some of an issue. There is no question that Murray’s display and talent at the sport will guide him at the rest of the Open, and indeed when he goes to Wimbledon later this summer and at the Olympics, but it all comes down to the back.

However, Murray noted the back spasm that caused significant physical concern was something not related to his history. “It’s a completely different thing to what I had beforehand,” Murray told the BBC. “If it was the same, then I would be really, really concerned about Wimbledon and obviously the Olympics. But so long as what I’m getting told by doctors and the physios is, if it is just a muscle spasm, then that’s nothing to be overly concerned by. But they are, when they happen, very difficult to shake off, especially when it’s early morning. It takes a bit of time for your body to warm up.”

If the back problems wear off, Murray will confidently be successful at this Open, at Wimbledon and other competitions. Murray will now face France’s Richard Gasquet as the next round continues at Roland-Garros.

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