Murray: Back injury won’t stop me competing at Wimbledon
BRITAIN’S Andy Murray dismissed growing fears over his back injury after struggling before overcoming Jarkko Nieminen to reach the third round of the French Open.
Murray’s injured back forced his withdrawal from the Madrid Masters in May but, despite his visible discomfort in the 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win, he remains relaxed about his fitness ahead of both Wimbledon and London 2012.
“It’s a completely different thing to what I had beforehand,” Murray said. “If it was the same, then I would be really, really concerned about Wimbledon and obviously the Olympics.
“But so long as what I’m getting told by doctors and the physios is, if it is just a muscle spasm, then that’s nothing to be overly concerned by.”
The opening set was overshadowed by the obvious pain Murray was experiencing and largely influenced its outcome before the Scot fought back with an impressively gutsy performance, something he is adamant will not affect his future preparations.
“[Spasms] are, when they happen, very difficult to shake off, especially when it’s early morning. It takes a bit of time for your body to warm up,” he added. “But I’m not doing any permanent damage by finishing a match like I did today.”
Murray’s success could not be matched by Heather Watson, however, after the young Brit lost 6-3, 6-4 to Julia Goerges of Germany. Regardless, the Olympics hopeful remained philosophical.
“I’m coming in with a different mentality now, a more confident approach,” said Watson.“Julia played well, she didn’t give me any rhythm at all and that’s what top players do.
“If it’s short they just put it away, hit good shots. They’ll miss some but I think I was just getting a bit frustrated. I’ve just got get used to it. I’m still working on being aggressive and learning from moments like this.”