Andy Murray will be playing clay court tennis in 2022, having previously suggested that he would skip the entire season, but he will not be packing his bags for a trip to Roland Garros.
Rather than rub shoulders with the elite once more in the French capital, a three-time Grand Slam winner will look to keep himself ticking over in the Spanish equivalent when visiting Madrid. A trip to Rome in the Italian Open may also be taken in before making a move to grass.
The Scot is at a stage of his career when he has to manage his schedule carefully and make considered decisions regarding his workload. Realistically, despite all that he has achieved, he was never going to figure prominently in tennis odds drawn up ahead of a Paris showpiece.
French Open betting is, unsurprisingly, leaning heavily towards 13-time champion and 7/5 favourite Rafael Nadal, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic snapping at his heels.
Murray may be a former finalist from back in 2016, but he is currently sat just inside the top 100 of the ATP World Rankings. For now, he has to choose his battles carefully.
He has more than earned that right and, despite apparent opposition from some, is in the fortunate position of being able to cherry pick which wildcard invitations he wishes to accept and which can be knocked back.
What a ?????????? achievement ?@andy_murray has now won ??? career matches ?
Just look at what it means to him! pic.twitter.com/3K3MsBAuZ3
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) March 12, 2022
There is, however, no escaping the fact that his appearances at the French Open in more recent times have been sporadic, to say the least, and it may be that a curtain has already come down for him on that particular stage.
One in Five
After reaching the aforementioned final on French soil, Murray returned a year later to reach the semis – completing a run of making it to at least the last four across four successive seasons and for a fifth time in the space of seven years.
He has made a solitary appearance since then. Having ruled himself out of the reckoning in 2022, a sequence of one outing in the space of five years is set to be completed.
For all of the issues he has endured away from the court, Murray has graced each of the other Slams at least twice across the same time period.
His last showing at Roland Garros came in 2020 and proved to be a largely forgettable affair. A first round defeat to former winner Stanislas Wawrinka was endured on that occasion – in straight sets and with only six games won in total – and he has not been back since.
? Watch the highlights by @emirates of the 1st round match of Stan Wawrinka against Andy Murray.
??The Swiss won 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.#FlyEmiratesFlyBetter #BackInTheGame #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/qP7872EUlB
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) September 27, 2020
Regular absences can easily be explained, but there comes a point when questions have to be asked of whether that particular chapter has been closed in the most distinguished and glittering of careers. With other surfaces being favoured, has Court Philippe Chatrier seen the last of any Murray magic?
It may be that he has at least one last hurrah in him, with retirement seemingly not on the cards just yet, but you get the sense that a Knight of the Realm will never become the King of Clay.