Andy Murray told to manage schedule wisely to avoid repeat of 2014 burden
Tuesday 2 December 2014 11:01, UK
Andy Murray has been told to choose his commitments wisely in 2015 to avoid a repeat of his ATP World Tour Finals disappointment last month.
Murray lost 6-0 6-1 to Roger Federer at the O2 Arena - his worst result in seven years - having put in a mammoth effort to qualify for the tournament by playing in Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna, Valencia and Paris in the weeks before the season finale.
And his former mentor Sergio Casal, who coached the Scot as a teenager during his years at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, believes Murray must manage his schedule better next year.
"He needs to choose well," he said. "I think he did about five tournaments in a row before the World Tour Finals. It's difficult to play more than three for these guys. More than three, it depends on the player.
Challenge
"At the beginning, when you are young, it's good that you play everything - it is the best way to learn. At 18, 19, 20 we used to play 36, 37 tournaments. The more you get a better ranking you have to choose little bit. He has to do that.
"He took the risk maybe with that match (against Federer), I don't know what happened."
Casal remains confident Murray can continue to challenge at Grand Slams despite the added pressure of being Britain's most successful Open-era player.
"These guys play a lot, they play a lot of years at high level with pressure from sponsors, press, the country, and they get tired," Casal added.
"As far as you are getting older, you are fit, but it's tough to recover. From one day to the other one, when you wake up it's different to when you were in your twenties.
"Murray is still very young - 27 is good. He's at his peak. You mature well, you don't do mistakes as when you were a junior. He has three, four very good years left."
