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Andy Murray has bad memories of Geneva. In the Parc des Eaux-Vives you can see old friends again.
The world of tennis is a small one. When Andy Murray flies from Bordeaux to Geneva on Friday, the person sitting next to him is a prominent one. “I sat next to Stan Wawrinka,” says the Brit in the media center of the tennis facility in the Parc des Eaux-Vives. The two started chatting. At 39 and 37 years old respectively, they can look back on a long and extremely successful career with three Grand Slam victories each.
For example, they remembered the first (of now 23) duel among the professionals. That was in September 2005 in the Davis Cup in the Palexpo hall in Geneva, and for Murray it was a bitter experience, and not just because of his defeat. “Our team decided that Greg (Rusedski) would not play on the first day, so my opponent was Stan and not Roger Federer,” Murray remembers clearly. “It would have been a brilliant opportunity for me to play against Roger for the first time, and in Switzerland at that.”
Legend: Causes great interest in Geneva Andy Murray. Keystone/Salvatore di Nolfi
First duel with Djokovic in 7 years?
Now Murray is back. He accepted a wild card for the tournament on Lake Geneva. “I actually never played in the week before the Grand Slam tournaments, but now I need matches,” he explains. In Miami he tore the ligaments in his left ankle at the beginning of April. Initially, the entire clay season was in limbo, especially as this would have allowed Murray to prepare longer for what was most likely his last Wimbledon.
Live notice
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You can watch the first round game between Andy Murray and Yannick Hanfmann on Monday from 6:00 p.m. live on SRF info and in the Sport app.
“The healing went faster than expected,” says Murray with satisfaction. Now the father of four can hope for an exciting duel. In the second round he would face Novak Djokovic in Geneva. The two have not met for seven years now.
Former Gstaad finalist a high hurdle
First of all, a fairly high hurdle awaits the Scot, who is still ranked number 74, on Monday at the “beautiful facility” (Murray) on the lake. His German first round opponent Yannick Hanfmann (ATP 84) is a real sand specialist and was in the ATP finals in Gstaad in 2017 and in Kitzbühel in 2020.
Will Murray Wawrinka snatch his Olympic ticket?
For Murray, the sand matches are also an investment in participating in the Olympics. After Wimbledon he would like to return to the red surface again. “I’m not 100 percent sure what I’m going to play in the next few months, but I would like to go back to Paris for the Olympics.”
This wish could come at Wawrinka’s expense. According to the current ranking, Murray, Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal would have to apply for one of the two wildcards. The 14-time Roland Garros champion (and individual Olympic champion from 2008) and the two-time Olympic gold winner (2012 and 2016) would have better cards than the Swiss, who “only” won one French Open title (2015). and Olympic gold in doubles (2008).
2024-05-20 07:25:00
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