Three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray has told Sky Sports that he may reduce his commitments to tournaments during the clay season in order to rest his body.
The former world No.1 recently announced that he would be ending his season early in order to have a longer training block. Murray returned to the tour in June following a 11-month absence due to a hip injury. A problem that required surgery in January. Since his return, the Brit has played nine matches in five tournaments. Winning four of those.
“Maybe during the clay-court season I might look to reduce my schedule a little bit there, play a bit less potentially to give myself bigger chunks in the year where I’m giving myself time to train and let my body rest and recover.” Murray told Sky Sports.
“Again that is probably something I haven’t done much over the years, but that’s how the tennis schedule works.”
It is not the first time a player has contemplated missing clay events in order to have longer rest periods. The most notable example is that of Roger Federer, who last played on the dirt at the 2016 Italian Open. Although the world No.2 has indicated that his hiatus from clay-court events could come to an end next year.
Unlike Federer, Murray finds himself ranked outside the world’s top 100 at 311th. The Brit admits that his current position makes it hard for him to find the right balance in his scheduling for next year.
“What’s relevant is really how many matches you’re winning. If you play a reduced schedule – like 10 or 11 tournaments in a year – but you only win 10 matches, playing 20 matches in a year is not really enough.” He explained.
“You ideally want to have a lighter schedule and be winning matches. When you’re coming back from a long lay-off, when rankings drop and you’re not seeded in tournaments, it’s difficult to do that.”
Besides his future intentions on the tour, Murray also spoke out about equal pay in the sport. In recent weeks there has been a fierce debate concerning gender equality in tennis. Triggered by Serena Williams’ US Open final against Naomi Osaka. Williams received a total of three warnings that resulted in a game penalty. Although she said that if she had been a man, the umpire wouldn’t have given her such punishment.
Murray did not weigh on in the topic concerning Williams, but admits that it is hard to completely establish equality on the tour when there are two separate governing bodies – the ATP and WTA. In the grand slams, equal prize money have been on offer at all of them since the 2007 Wimbledon championships.
“Tennis, in comparison to pretty much every other sport, and certainly global sports, tennis does a fantastic job in terms of equal pay at the major events,” Murray said.
“It’s not equal across the board in terms of all of the tournaments, but it’s really difficult to get that when you have two different organisations.”
“”It’s very difficult to get it perfect at every single event. I sometimes feel like it’s viewed negatively in tennis rather than celebrated.” He added.
Murray will play two tournaments in China before shutting down his 2018 season. This week he will play at the Shenzhen Open. In the first round, he will play Zhang Zhizhen. A win will set him up with a showdown against top seed David Goffin.
