Andy Murray & Roland Garros: taking the legend on a Parisian trip down memory lane
From the shortest headband era ever to ousting a defending champion, the clay major has provided its share of moments for the 37-year-old.
PARIS—In 2005, Andy Murray was the top-ranked junior boy when Roland Garros rolled around. The Dunblane native would reach the semifinals of the tournament, and while Murray is the first to admit he needed time to navigate the surface once moving up to the professional ranks, he’s more than proven himself a worthy competitor at the clay-court major with a 39-11 record boosted by a 2016 runner-up showing to go with four additional semifinals.
As he prepares for an expected farewell appearance in Paris, where Murray opens against a familiar foe Sunday night in Stan Wawrinka, we took the future Hall of Famer on a little trip down memory lane through a series of photos from the tournament.
Andy Murray said “I genuinely don’t remember that happening. I clearly was young. Oh, this was juniors? I lost in the semis to Marin Cilic, I remember that. I don’t remember any other matches that I played. Yeah, it’s an unfortunate look that one.
Roland Garros means a lot to me, said Andy Murray. Clay was obviously always a surface that I had found most challenging because I didn’t grow up on it. And I felt like when I lost the final in 2016, that’s probably the one result in my career I’d like to change because if I’d managed to get through, it would’ve been probably my biggest win or most surprising one. I’ve played some amazing matches here. I played Rafa a few times, Novak, Stan. But I always remember the match against the French players, they create a proper atmosphere. It’s always very hostile and intense and I always loved those matches. So glad to be back again and hope to create a few more memories.
