Murray eager to get back in action at Queen's
Andy Murray is confident the frustration of missing the French Open will soon be forgotten as he looks to make a winning return to action at Queen’s Club next week.
World number two Murray was forced to withdraw from the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris due to a back injury.
But the reigning US Open and Olympic champion has recovered well enough to feature in the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event which starts at Queen’s Club in west London on Monday.
Murray has been training on grass with coach Ivan Lendl and his friend and former British number one Tim Henman as he looks to find form with Wimbledon just two weeks away.
And asked if sitting out the French Open could turn out to be beneficial, the 26-year-old Scot said: “I hope so. That’s the sort of attitude you need to take.
“I know after the French Open last year I took five or six days off and when I started practising again I felt really comfortable on the grass straight away and that isn’t normally the case.
“Grass takes time to get used to. I’ve been on the grass for 10 days or so and that’s probably a week longer than I would have had if I’d been at the French Open.
“It’s more than I’ve had the past few years and I’ve been playing better and better each day in practice so hopefully it will turn out to be a blessing.”
Murray, who reached the Wimbledon final for the first time last year before losing to Roger Federer, admits he will be short of match practice when he starts his Queen’s campaign, but he is relishing the prospect of once again playing at one of his favourite venues.
“Well I’ll be short of matches,” he said. “But I’ve done enough training over the last 10 days or so. I actually did a big training block after Monte Carlo so some of that should still be in there too, so it’s just matches that I’ll need.
“Normally, coming from the clay court I’d be match tough, just not used to the surface, whereas this year I won’t be match tight but at least I’ll have had 10 days on the grass.
“The conditions here are perfect. It’s a great setting and the Centre Court is really, really good so it’s perfect preparation.
“It’s also got a lot of history this tournament so it’s a nice one to win and do well at and I’ll try and have a good run.”
Two-time Queen’s champion Murray has a bye in the first round and has been drawn to face either Nicolas Mahut or American Rhyne Williams in the second round.
If Mahut makes it through to face Murray it will offer the top seed a chance to avenge his shock defeat against the Frenchman at the same stage of the tournament last year.
Murray is seeded to play France’s Michael Llodra in the third round, and possibly Alex Dolgopolov, Bernard Tomic or Lukas Rosol in the quarter-finals.
French star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, beaten by Murray in the 2011 Queen’s final, is the scheduled opponent for the Scot in the semi-finals.
In the other half of the draw, second seed Tomas Berdych starts against either Rogerio Dutra Silva or Thiemo De Bakker in the second round.
The 2010 Wimbledon finalist could face defending Queen’s champion Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals, and Juan Martin del Potro in the final four.
One of the matches of the tournament could take place in the second round, if Grigor Dimitrov and four-time Queen’s champion Lleyton Hewitt both win their openers.