Nadal RG act will never be repeated: Murray

Rafael Nadal’s 14 Grand Slam titles in Paris will never be repeated as far as Andy Murray can tell.

The Scot confessed on Monday that he’s in awe of the achievement from the 36-year-old Spaniard who has written another page in the record books.

Murray kept up with the French Open from a distance as he transferred from last week’s grass at the Surbiton Challenger to this week on the Tour in Stuttgart.

He starts his serious Wimbledon prep against Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell in the first round on Tuesday.

The Scot is venturing onto foreign lawns for only the second time in 45 events, with the vast majority of his time spent on UK courts.

Murray admitted to admiration for the enormity of Nadal’s accomplishment.

 “It was just an incredible achievement for Rafa,” the three-time Grand Slam winner said.

“Winning 14 Grand Slams at the same place is incredible.

“(Carlos) Alcaraz is 19 now, so he would have to win it every single time (until age 33) to achieve (14 titles).

“I just don’t see that happening.”

The 68th-ranked Scot added: “There’s hardly any players on the Tour who will get the opportunity to play Roland Garros 14 times – much less win it.”

Murray is making his debut at the hilltop Weissenhof Club, which made the switch to grass curated by Wimbledon groundsman in time for the 2015 edition – won by Nadal.

Former No. 1 Murray said he will have to make a quick adjustment from the quirky Surbiton-style grass courts to the more conventional Stuttgart lawns.

“Those (Surbiton) were old-school courts, lower bounce, very fast. But it was a good start, hopefully I can continue it here.

“I hopefully want to get as many matches as I can this week and improve from last week (semi-final loss to Denis Kudla).

“But you can’t always get results or control how you are going to play.

“I’ll try to give myself the opportunity for as many matches as possible.”

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Swiatek breaks the speed limit in rapid-fire win

Iga Swiatek switched to warp speed after rain delayed her fourth-round match by an hour,…

4 days ago

Alcaraz hits 14 in a row at Indian Wells

Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz ran his hot streak at the Indian Wells Masters to 14…

4 days ago

Sabalenka steamrolls modest Italian opposition

Aryna Sabalenka spent just an hour and a quarter in dispatching Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-1,…

4 days ago

Gauff scrapes through despite double-fault disaster

Coco Gauff wasted five match points while double-faulting four times in the final game but managed…

5 days ago

Draper increasing confidence with IW win

Jack Draper used the confidence earned just weeks ago in Australia to power past Jensen Brooksby…

5 days ago

Tsitsipas turns up the heat with defeat of Berrettini

Culinary enthusiast Stefanos Tsitsipas cooked up a 6-3, 6-3 win over Matteo Berrettini on Sunday,…

6 days ago