Andy Murray to Withdraw From Monte Carlo Masters 2007?

UPDATE : Much to the relief of his fans Andy Murray has officially pulled out of the Monte Carlo Masters and will now have the time to full recover from a very busy schedule.

I'm not sure how this will affect his ranking, but I would guess that he will lose the 5 points he gained last year by being knocked out in the first round. This won't change his position of 10, but he could be overtaken by players below him if they perform well this week.

Nalbandian and Berdych would probably have to win the tournament to overtake Murray, so I'll keep an eye on the results in Monte Carlo.

Marc Gicquel (46) won his match 7-5 5-7 7-5 and earned the right to play Murray in the 2nd round.

The bad news is that the match may not happen. Andy Murray pulled out of his doubles match yesterday with a back injury and, last night, BBC Radio Five Live indicated that the groin problem may still not have fully recovered.

Murray and Gicquel are fourth in the order of play on the Central Court so there's plenty of time for Murray to make his decision but the early signs are that Murray will withdraw. Late last night, Murray posted on the official forum and said:

"It's feeling better now than it was during the match ive taking some painkillers had treatment and i can walk now at least!! So not looking good for tomorrow."

However Murray feels today I'm seriously hoping he withdraws and gets some rest. There's a still a lot of tennis available between now and the Summer so why take the chance when there are no points to defend.

I just hope the decision isn't affected by the anxiety of how it would look if Murray jumps in out of the top ten for a little while. Only the media will care and his fans certainly won't.

Source:

Andy Murray Forum - bad back!! Andy posted

AndyMurray.com - Andy 4th up on court central Tuesday…

BBC SPORT Tennis Murray retires hurt from doubles