TENNIS:MONTE CARLO can be bleak. When the clouds roll down from the sharp, grey cliffs, as they have done intermittently this week, it does not look like the playground of the tanned and smiling rich often portrayed, but Andy Murray is doing his best to beat the blues.
“It hasn’t really happened to me since I’ve been on the Tour,” he said. “It happened to me a few times in the juniors, when you’re just not enjoying yourself on court . . . and it’s kind of hard to put your finger on.”
The Scot arrived from the warmth of his training base in Miami for the first clay-court tournament of the season feeling apprehensive but not quite as dark as the waters lapping the bijou Monte Carlo Country Club. While “no one thing in particular” has bugged him, a lot of unrelated events have coalesced.
He bombed out in Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami, and slipped from third to fourth in the world rankings. He has been working through a reconciliation with his longtime girlfriend, Kim Sears.
And this week he has fielded reheated accusations that he abandoned Britain’s Davis Cup team, then manipulated the appointment on Monday of his old friend and former coach, Leon Smith, as captain, so he could continue to pick and choose when he played. That was hard to take, given it is unfounded.
Today, after the luxury of a bye on the first day, Murray gets to shake free some of the baggage when he plays the German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round of the Rolex Masters. After limbering up in the doubles on Monday, he spoke freely about his tough times.
“You guys know the kind of the stuff that was going on, on and off the court and within tennis,” he said. “You need to make sure you’ve got a clear head. I took four or five days after Miami, stayed there, practised and I feel a lot better than I did.
“The guys that I work with, we know each other really well now and we spend a lot of time together. They want me to win every tournament I play, but it’s not always about results. It’s about being yourself on court, fighting hard, being in a good frame of mind and enjoying yourself.
“For some reason that month in Indian Wells and Miami was not how I play on court, not really how I compete. I wasn’t myself at all. It’s not their fault. I need to sort it out myself.
“I can’t say 100 per cent I’m going to be great this week but I feel fine. I have practised really well, a lot better than I have done the last month or so. I want to be playing good tennis again, feeling confident, ready to go for it at the French, and Wimbledon right after that.”
Murray at least has the distraction offered by another put-upon Scot. Although he hasn’t decided who he will vote for in the British election, Murray observed, “I did think everyone was a bit harsh on Gordon Brown. But I don’t know, I haven’t really looked at it that much. I think it’s difficult.”
When Murray wakes up this morning, the forecast will be, “mostly sunny with a 10 per cent chance of rain”.
Brown would settle for that.
