Revised ATP calendar not safe for players, says Murray
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH ANDY MURRAY, FILE FOOTAGE OF MURRAY, ROGER FEDERER, RAFAEL NADAL AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC PRACTISING, FILE FOOTAGE OF U.S. OPEN AND FRENCH OPEN VENUES
SHOWS:
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 27, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDY MURRAY, SAYING:
"It's tricky and I think that they'll have to sort of think long and hard about what they're going to do with the ranking points and things like that because, you know, it is not possible or in my opinion it's not safe for players to go from let's say you play the final or the semi-finals in New York, quarter-finals even, and then you play on the Tuesday in Madrid at altitude on a clay court when the players haven't competed for a very long time and so you're going to have the potential where a lot of top players are not actually competing in many of the biggest events or the Masters series like even Rome will… because none of the top players for a very, very long time have competed a week before a slam. So, the rankings if they can keep the points as they are, I think could get a bit skewed and it might be worth potentially looking at like a two-year ranking for the time being maybe. I don't know, so that guys who have done well last year and are sort of not really able to defend their points properly aren't kind of punished because, you know, I don't know… I think maybe that would be a fair… that's the situation that the tour is in. It's extremely difficult but I think fine for the events to go ahead, you know, but even like Beijing and Shanghai come right off the back I think of the French Open with no weeks off and then from Shanghai it's back to Vienna and Paris. So, there's literally big tournaments every single week it's going to be very difficult for players that are winning consistently to commit to that many events so yes I just think you need to be a bit careful about the rankings maybe."
2. WHITE FLASH
3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDY MURRAY, SAYING:
"I'll probably wait until Washington I would think now. I enjoyed playing this event. I think, like I said, Jamie (Murray) and everyone who has put the event on has done a fantastic job. The matches were very competitive and it was good but yes I'll just probably get ready for Washington would be my plan and start to contemplate a bit more on my practice and sort of preparing for matches rather than I guess worrying so much about the hip and how that's going to respond so I wouldn't imagine I'll be playing any events between now and Washington."
4. WHITE FLASH
5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDY MURRAY, SAYING:
"I don't think I will play at Cincinnati - or the New York whatever it is - the event the week before because it's just so close to a slam and I would hate to pick up a niggle or something and it prevented me from playing in New York so I would rather play Washington and miss the event the week before at the U.S. Open if they all go ahead."
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JUNE 28, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
6. VARIOUS OF ANDY MURRAY AND HIS DOUBLES PARTNER AT WIMBLEDON IN 2019, PIERRE-HUGUES HERBERT ON COURT PRACTISING
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - NOVEMBER 8, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
7. VARIOUS OF ROGER FEDERER PRACTISING AHEAD OF ATP TOUR FINALS
8. VARIOUS OF NOVAK DJOKOVIC PRACTISING AHEAD OF ATP TOUR FINALS
9. VARIOUS OF RAFAEL NADAL PRACTISING AHEAD OF ATP TOUR FINALS
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 27, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
10. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM - THE MAIN COURT AT FLUSHING MEADOWS - THE VENUE FOR THE U.S. OPEN
11. PEOPLE WALKING BY SIGN FOR THE U.S. OPEN
12. THE UNISPHERE SCULPTURE (LARGE STEEL GLOBE) IN FLUSHING MEADOWS-CORONA PARK
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 28, 2017) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
13. PEOPLE WALKING BY U.S. OPEN SIGNAGE
14. UNISPHERE SCULPTURE
PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - MARCH 21, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
15. VARIOUS OF NEW "SIMONNE MATHIEU" COURT AND SEATS AT ROLAND GARROS - THE FRENCH OPEN VENUE
16. SINGLES TROPHIES
17. MEN'S TROPHY
STORY: Three-times Grand Slam champion Andy Murray said on Saturday (June 27) the ATP's revised calendar which includes seven tournaments in as many weeks is not safe for players, who will be forced to skip major events due to the crammed schedule.
The ATP tour, which was suspended in March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, is set restart on Aug. 14 with the Citi Open, followed by the Cincinnati Masters, which will be held at Flushing Meadows before the U.S. Open.
The men's claycourt swing will start on Sept. 8 in Kitzbuhel followed by Masters tournaments in Madrid and Rome on Sept. 13 and Rome Masters on Sept. 20, with the French Open set to begin a week later.
"It's not safe for players to go from the semi-finals or final in New York... and then play in Madrid at altitude on clay when they haven't competed for a long time," Murray told a news conference during the 'Battle of the Brits' charity tournament.
"You're going to have the potential where a lot of top players are not competing at many of the biggest events."
The 33-year-old said with events coming thick and fast changes would need to be made with respect to players' ranking points.
"It might be worth looking at a two-year ranking for the time being maybe so that guys who have done well last year and are sort of not really able to defend their points properly aren't kind of punished," the twice Wimbledon champion said.
Murray suggested he will skip the tournament in Cincinnati to get his preparations for the U.S. Open in order.
"I would rather play Washington and miss the event the week before at the U.S. Open if they all go ahead," he added.
Murray returned to action following a seven-month injury layoff at the charity event organised by his brother Jamie this week, progressing to the semi-finals before losing 1-6 6-3 10-8 to Dan Evans. Sunday's finals will be shown on Amazon Prime.
(Production: Tim Hart)
