Andy Murray loss in Monte Carlo 'hard to watch' for Justine Henin and Laura Robson ahead of French Open
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Published 11/04/2023 at 11:25 GMT
Eurosport experts Justine Henin and Laura Robson have given their reaction after Britain's Andy Murray suffered a very disheartening defeat to Alex de Minaur in straight sets at the Monte Carlo Masters. Looking ahead to the French Open with Murray having hinted that he would try to play at Roland-Garros, the pair discussed his prospects, particularly with a view to Wimbledon this summer.
'His priority for sure is Wimbledon' - Henin and Robson react to Murray loss in Monte Carlo
Andy Murray's struggles in his defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters were "hard to watch" for Justine Henin and Laura Robson, who reflected on the disappointment.
The 35-year-old was left very frustrated with his performance after he mustered just four games in the entire match against the 14th seed from Australia in what was a big setback for him ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season in Paris.
Murray lost 6-1 6-3 to De Minaur as he produced 26 unforced errors and failed to earn a single break point on his first appearance at the tournament since 2017. It was a performance that left him very unhappy.
The disheartening result followed another straight-sets loss to Dusan Lajovic at the Miami Open, and Henin and Robson were left to question where the Brit goes now ahead of the French Open as he assesses his priorities.
"We could see yesterday that it was tough for him to move and to find the rhythm," Henin said.
"His game was not really helping to make the difference on the clay. It is tough to say that about Andy because we love him so much, what he has done on the tour is just amazing.
"On clay, it becomes more and more difficult. He misses matches now, but will this time in the next few weeks be enough for him? That is the question, and that will probably also be his question.
"We can understand because we have all been through injuries, but we cannot be in his position and it must be so tough emotionally to give all of this effort and to realise on the court that it becomes really difficult.
"Of course, we can use these experiences, but for him at this point in his career, we will see the decisions that he is going to take.
"At the end of his career, he will need to make his priorities. His priority for sure is Wimbledon. He wants to play one more Roland-Garros - he wasn't sure a few days ago and maybe is even less sure now.
"We will see the decisions he makes. Is it a good choice to stay on clay? We will see what he decides soon."
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Robson added: "He was super disappointed with how he played.
"It is so hard to watch because you know how much work he is putting in outside of the court and in the gym, just to be able to play out on the clay because it is so difficult for him physically.
"He said it was one of the worst losses of his career, he said that he felt awful out there and he was almost apologising to the crowd at times because he felt he was playing so badly.
"I think often it is just about how you bounce back from that, and there is no one better at that on the tour than Andy. It is going to be a very interesting couple of weeks for Andy Murray."
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