23 April 2020

Britain's Andy Murray hopes for French Open return but 'sceptical' it will go ahead

Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has revealed he wants to return to action at the French Open in September.

The clay court tournament, which was originally scheduled to begin on May 24, is now set to start on September 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Murray finished runner-up at the French Open in 2016 to Novak Djokovic (PA Images)

And while Murray hopes he will get back on the Roland Garros court for the first time since 2017 later this year, he also believes the idea of sport coming back so soon is far-fetched.

Speaking to CNN, he said: “I would definitely play on the clay if it goes ahead. I’m a bit sceptical whether it will.

“I would imagine tennis would be one of the last sports to get back to normality because you’ve obviously got players and coaches and teams coming from all over the world into one area. I would be surprised if they were back playing sport by September-time.

“You have to feel like the whole world is working normally again and travelling normally before tennis would go back, especially the major competitions. If you took the French Open, let's say things in Europe have improved, but there are certain countries that might still have issues.

“If you then have a tournament where people or players from a certain continent or countries are not allowed to come in to compete, I think the tournament loses.”

The 32 year-old has not played at the French Open since he was eliminated in the semi-finals by Switzerland's Stanislav Wawrinka three years ago.

Murray has reached the final in Paris once in his career, a run which led him to be beaten in four sets by Novak Djokovic in 2016.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year, has already been cancelled altogether due to the virus.

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