'I could quite easily have felt sorry for myself' - Andy Murray proud of French Open return
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Published 24/05/2024 at 19:43 GMT
Andy Murray was expecting to miss the French Open after rupturing his ankle ligaments during the third set of his third-round defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open in March. However, the former world No. 1 will take on three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka on Sunday after a rapid return to fitness. The Brit admitted he was proud of his rehab work after expecting to miss the clay season.
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Andy Murray believes a refusal to feel sorry for himself was the difference as he raced to return to fitness for the French Open.
The former world No. 1 will play at Roland-Garros for only the second time since 2017 when he faces three-time Grand Slam winner Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday.
Murray ruptured ankle ligaments during the third set of his third-round defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open back in March before returning to action a fortnight ago.
There was originally no clear timescale for the Brit's return, and the two-time Olympic gold medallist admitted he was proud to be back in time for the French Open.
Murray said: "Initially I was expecting to miss the French and not play any clay at all.
"So to be here and feeling pretty healthy, and the ankle being good, is a huge bonus.
"I was surprised with that because I could quite easily have felt sorry for myself, taken a break and not done the rehab as well as I did.
"I’m proud of that. It would have been easy to have looked at it a different way, and I worked really hard to get back, and that’s one of the reasons why I was able to come back a bit sooner than I anticipated.”
Murray will go down as an icon of British sport after winning Wimbledon twice and the 2012 US Open.
He is yet to win the French Open, with his best performance coming in 2016 when he fell to a 3–6 6–1 6–2 6–4 defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final.
Murray has hinted that he could be entering the final few months of his career, suggesting he could retire from Grand Slams after Wimbledon this summer.
Despite entering what could be the last few months of his career, Murray insisted he was as motivated as ever to prove his fitness.
"I was surprised how I was during the rehab - I felt really, really motivated," he added.
"I worked extremely hard every single day with my team and physio, there were no breaks or holidays to feel sorry for myself.
"I just did the work."
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You can watch every day of the 2024 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+.
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