French Open 2020: 'Andy Murray must be given chance to feel better' - former coach Alex Corretja
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Updated 28/09/2020 at 12:22 GMT
The tennis world must afford Andy Murray the opportunity to feel better on the court over the off-season after his disappointing first-round loss to Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2020 French Open, according to Eurosport expert and the Brit's former coach, Alex Corretja. The Spaniard feels Murray could return improved for the Australian Open.
Andy Murray of Great Britain looks dejected during his match against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the first round of the men’s singles on Day 1 at Roland Garros
Image credit: Getty Images
Andy Murray must be given the opportunity to return feeling better on the court next season after his French Open first-round defeat, says his former coach Alex Corretja.
Murray's 2020 French Open campaign was brought to a quick and abrupt end by Stanislas Wawrinka, who won through in straight sets very easily in Paris.
Wawrinka had no trouble cruising past the 33-year-old, 6-1 6-3 6-2, which prompted fellow Eurosport expert Mats Wilander to say: "Murray needs to stop thinking of himself and start thinking about who he was. Does he have a right to be out there taking wildcards from the young players?"
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Corretja, who coached the 33-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion between 2010 and 2011, offered his perspective.
"Each player has had his own experience and I respect what Mats says because that’s his experience and his own feeling," Corretja told Eurosport.
"In my opinion, playing best-of-five on clay in these conditions after such a long time without playing matches, in two-and-a-half years where he hasn’t played much, is not a reference.
"I believe that once he starts the indoor season he will feel much better, he will play best-of-three and he will get the rhythm he needs to get in shape again for next season. He will have an off-season and get ready most likely to play matches before Melbourne – there he will have a good chance to feel better.
My advice is to retire one year too late rather than one year too early. Why? Because in that year you realise whether you are capable of coming back, capable of getting back to where you want to be or not. If you retire and you are not sure about it, then you might regret it and think about it for the rest of your life, that you could have gone a little longer.
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"That’s something I don’t recommend to players. Why? Because tennis is such a beautiful sport that it’s never going to be the same.
I totally understand that Andy is trying to get back to his best, I’m sure he knows it will be very difficult, but you need to give him the chance to see if he at least feels better on the court, no matter if he wins Slams again or not, and try to enjoy the rest of his career.
"Most likely, when you have such a long career, you know you are in a privileged position. It’s sometimes difficult to enjoy that.
"Like David Ferrer when he said he was going to retire, he did enjoy it much more and knew by the end of the year that he gave it everything he had and that’s important."
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