Andy Murray handed nightmare draw in Bordeaux as French Open uncertainty still looms

Tennis News
Andy Murray during a match

Andy Murray remains undecided about the French Open, but as things stand he is set to compete on the ATP Challenger Tour in Bordeaux this week and he hasn’t received the best of draws.

The three-time Grand Slam winner has had an up and down campaign on clay over the past few weeks as he lost his opening matches in Monte Carlo and Madrid and then accepted a wildcard entry for the ATP Challenger Tour event in Aix-En-Provence.

He went all the way in the south of France, defeating Tommy Paul in the final for his first Challenger title in nearly 18 years.

However, that was followed by a stormy first-round defeat at hands of Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open last week and afterwards Murray admitted that he is yet to decide if he will play at Roland Garros or end his clay-court season early in order to focus on grass and Wimbledon.

Yet, for now he will continue his red dirt journey as he is in the main draw for this week’s BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux and he has been seen practising in Bordeaux.

The main draw gods have not been kind to the former world No 1, though, as he faces some tricky matches early on in the bottom half of the draw.

Seeded second, former world No 1 winner has a bye into the second round and he will open his campaign against either fellow three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, who lost in the second round in Rome, or a qualifier on Wednesday.

If he comes through that clash then he could face world No 50 and fifth seed Ugo Humbert, rising French star Fils, Swede Elias Ymer or a qualifier in the quarter-final.

Third seed Richard Gasquet is projected to reach the semi-final, but the Frenchman will likely have to get past the likes of Thanasi Kokkinakis, Luca Van Assche or Mikel Ymer.

Jan-Lennard Struff, whose last match was the Madrid Open final where he finished runner-up in three sets against Carlos Alcaraz, will kick off his campaign against wildcard Mathias Bourgue or a qualifier.

The German, though, could face former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final. However, Thiem himself has a tough draw as he opens up against Benoit Paire while he could face eighth seed Courentin Moutet in the second round.

The winner of that bracket is projected to face fourth seed Adrian Mannarino in the semi-final, but the Frenchman will likely have to get past the likes of Albert Ramos Viñolas and seventh seed Tomas Etcheverry at some point.

READ MORE: Boris Becker labels Andy Murray an ‘absolute role model’ to younger generation

Andy Murray Stan Wawrinka

Latest