Andy Murray defends withdrawal after Jeremy Chardy's swipe ahead of French Open clash
Monday 1 June 2015 08:07, UK
Andy Murray has backed his actions in Italy last month following a public dig by Monday's opponent at the French Open, Jeremy Chardy.
Britain's No 1 withdrew from the Rome Masters with fatigue in May after beating Chardy 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the ATP Tour event leaving the Frenchman angry as Murray pulled out in the next round, claiming tiredness after a long winning streak on clay.
Chardy, who faces Murray again on Monday for a place in the French Open quarter-finals, said over the weekend: "If you want to win a grand slam, everybody is tired.
"I was a little bit upset. I mean, when you are starting a tournament and he beat me first round, and he's so confident and he wants to be one of the best players, win a Grand Slam."
The comments add spice to the pair's reunion but Murray has no regrets over his decision to withdraw to save energy for his efforts at Roland Garros.
Murray said: "I was extremely tired. I obviously wanted to try to compete as best I could that week but the more time I spent in the event, I realised I felt very tired.
"The evening that I played the match against Chardy, I woke up the next day feeling pretty tired. I had a bad practice before my match with (his next opponent) David Goffin and it was like, maybe I would have been able to get through a couple more matches but I would have to then take more time off and the French Open starts on Sunday.
"It was a tough decision, but at the time it felt like the right one."
Murray is unbeaten on clay so far this year and made it 10 wins in a row with a straight-sets victory over Australian 20-year-old Nick Kyrgios on Saturday.
Since the beginning of the tournament I have been playing a lot better than in Rome, so I hope... that I will be able to play a better match and perhaps win.
He has also only lost once to Chardy in seven previous meetings but their Italian Open match-up was the only time they have ever played on clay.
The Frenchman has made it to a grand slam quarter-final just once in his career but he is on a strong run, having beaten American John Isner and Belgium's David Goffin already at Roland Garros for the loss of only one set.
"Since the beginning of the tournament I have been playing a lot better than in Rome, so I hope... that I will be able to play a better match and perhaps win," Chardy said.
"I really like playing at Roland Garros, for me, there is not any pressure. It helps me to play in front of my crowd, and they give me a lot of energy, so I enjoy every year to play here."
