Murray To Enter Another Challenger Clay Event To Improve Declining Form

ATP
Saturday, 29 April 2023 at 08:00
Updated at Saturday, 29 April 2023 at 00:45
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Andy Murray will not take a rest from clay court season just yet as the Brit received a wildcard entry to the upcoming Aix-en-Provence ATP Challenger event.

Murray has endured a troubling start to the 2023 clay court season and his disappointing run continued with a first-round defeat at the Madrid Open against Andrea Vavassori. The early exit followed a poor showing at the Monte Carlo Masters, where the 35-year-old crashed out after a straight sets loss against Alex de Minaur.

In a bid to improve his form and regain some consistency to his game, Murray will compete at the Aix-en-Provence ATP Challenger, which begins on Monday, May 1. Journalist James Gray confirmed Murray's entrance via Twitter and said the three-time Grand Slam champion will compete on a wildcard.

"No rest for Andy Murray - and he is staying on the clay, for now. He has been given a wildcard for the Aix-en-Provence ATP Challenger event which starts next week."

It is likely that Murray is targeting the Challenger event at the beginning of May as he aims to get ready for the 2023 Roland Garros, which begins on Sunday, May 28. Murray recently expressed his desire to compete again at Roland Garros this season as it may be his last chance to enter the competition. It's already his second entrance to the ATP Challenger event, as earlier this week he signed up for a tournament in Bordeaux.

However, the 35-year-old has not featured at the French Open since 2020, where he entered on a wildcard and was eliminated in the first round by Stan Wawrinka. The former world number one's best performance at Roland Garros came in 2016 when he reached the final but eventually lost against Novak Djokovic.

2023 Open Aix Provence ATP Challenger Entry List:

SeedName Seeding RankingEntry Ranking
1Richard Gasquet4343
2Brandon Nakashima4444
3Adrian Mannarino4647
4Mikael Ymer5051
5Roberto Carballes Baena5349
6Alexander Bublik5553
7Gregoire Barrere5657
8Tomas Martin Etcheverry5959
Albert Ramos-Vinolas6050
Marcos Giron6167
Jason Kubler6370
Quentin Halys6666
Cristian Garin7384
Nuno Borges7463
Luca Van Assche8688
Alexandre Muller9496
David Goffin9585
Roman Safiullin112104
Otto Virtanen114114
Jurij Rodionov119119
Arthur Fils124122
Andy Murray (WC)
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