Andy Murray joins Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem at ATP Challenger Bordeaux event ahead of French Open 2023
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ByEurosport
Published 25/04/2023 at 15:40 GMT
Former world No. 1 Andy Murray has made a surprise planned return to action on clay despite his recent fitness struggles and trouble finding form. He has now decided to take part in the upcoming BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux event next month as he lines up a series of tournaments on clay, which he will likely use as preparation for the 2023 French Open in Paris if he can stay in good health.
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Andy Murray is just one of several big names who will take part in the BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux next month, it has been announced.
The veteran Scot will compete on clay alongside the experienced Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem, who is still attempting to find his best form after injury.
The ATP Challenger Tour event runs from May 14-20 at Villa Primrose and offers the trio the chance to get some practice on clay before Roland-Garros.
Murray’s decision gives him a busy month ahead as he will take part at the Madrid Open this week, and also next week’s Italian Open, which begins on May 8.
Ever since Murray’s return from extensive hip surgery, speculation has persisted that he might retire from the sport, but after losing in the first rounds of the Miami Open and the Monte-Carlo Masters, he does not appear ready to step away from the sport just yet.
By lining up a clay-court event when he was not expected to do so makes it look likely that he will now take part at the French Open if he can sustain his health and fitness.
Wawrinka has had a middling 2023 so far, with quarter-final finishes at Rotterdam and Montpellier, but then he failed to impress at Monte Carlo and Banja Luka in Bosnia.
Thiem won the US Open in 2020, and has also reached two quarter-finals, at Estoril and in Munich, but has been a shadow of the player who would regularly challenge the Big Three for Grand Slams in recent years as he has struggled for form and fitness.
Murray will not be the only Briton at the event, with world No. 24 Dan Evans set to take part. Richard Gasquet, Jan-Lennard Struff and Luca van Assche will also be involved.
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