Andy Murray ‘demoralising’ Monte Carlo defeat – what it means: No French Open? No Wimbledon seeding?

It marked a swift end to Murray’s first appearance in Monte Carlo since 2017, and raises questions about the rest of his clay season and beyond.

Will Murray rethink clay plans?

Murray’s clay schedule has changed drastically over the last five years.

At his peak, Murray looked comfortable on the surface and was impressive in making the French Open final in 2016. He also won the Italian Open that year and made the final in Madrid, where he was defending champion after lifting the title the previous season.

But following his hip operation and the challenges the recovery presented, Murray cut clay out of his calendar, not playing in Monte Carlo, Madrid or Rome for four straight years from 2018 to 2021.

He also only played the French Open once in that time, losing in straight sets to Stan Wawrinka in 2020.

But his defeat to De Minaur could have him thinking about a change of plans.

“There’s not really any options tournament-wise. Last year, we had looked into the possibility of playing potentially some hard court Challengers. But with the way the rules are now, like the ones that are over in Asia, for example, I can’t go and play them during Madrid and Rome. I’m not allowed to play elsewhere.

“So it’s just whether I play the clay court season or whether I miss it. I have to have a long think about things with my team and what I do from here, in terms of where I train or do I stick on the clay. It was pretty disappointing.”

The Madrid Open starts on April 26 and is followed by the Italian Open on May 10.

Murray’s seeding aim struggles

One of Murray’s ongoing goals has been to get into the top 32 in the world rankings, which would earn him a seeded spot at Grand Slams – and therefore, potentially a kinder draw in the early rounds.

A climb up the rankings looked achievable at the start of the season as Murray made the third round of the Australian Open and then reached the final in Doha.

However, back-to-back first-round losses in Miami and Monte Carlo have not helped his cause.

Murray is projected to be ranked at No. 51 in the rankings next week, 295 points off Francisco Cerundolo in 32nd spot.

If he does skip the rest of the clay season he would only drop 90 points as Madrid was the only clay event he played last year. However, he would also miss out on the chance to gain some points from two Masters events (Madrid and Rome) and a Grand Slam (French Open).

After the clay season it’s onto the grass.

Murray made the final in Stuttgart last year so will have 150 points to defend there, but could gain points at Queen’s as he missed the tournament in 2022 due to injury.

But would even victory at Queen’s be enough to get him into the top 32 if he doesn’t play again on clay?

Stay on clay or pass for grass?

Murray looks to be in a tricky position.

Is it worth continuing to train on clay for Madrid, Rome and the French Open if he doesn’t think he has a chance of getting many wins? Or would he be better served switching focus already to preparing for the grass season?

If Murray did opt for a training block instead of continuing on clay he likely would not play competitively again until the start of June when grass events in Surbiton and Stuttgart roll around.

“I put a lot of work in, in the off-season,” Murray said. “I trained really hard and you know, had continued that through the year. There’s been parts of this year that have been a little bit tricky team-wise but, in the build up to Doha, for example, I spent a good sort of 10 days on my own on the court and had worked well and was working consistently on the things I’d been doing in the off-season, really building on Australia and it was feeling good.

“But obviously, since I finished in Indian Wells, things have gone downhill and two bad performances. Obviously, you can lose matches and stuff, I could have lost some of the matches I won earlier in the year.

“But it’s just that the nature of those performances and how poor they were is really disappointing for me. Because I get losing matches, you don’t win every single week and everyone loses at some stage, but it’s more the nature of how they were and how I played and felt on the court that is not fun.”

Henin: His priority is Wimbledon

“His priority for sure is Wimbledon. He wants to play one more Roland-Garros – he wasn’t sure a few days ago and maybe is even less sure now,” said former world No. 1 Henin.

“We will see the decisions he makes. Is it a good choice to stay on clay? We will see what he decides soon.”

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