Fit-again Murray set for French test in Paris
BRITISH No1 Andy Murray will launch his bid for a fourth consecutive ATP Tour title against Jeremy Chardy of France at the Paris Masters today.
Murray, currently on a 16-match winning streak, was forced to pull out of last week’s Basel tournament with a leg injury, but was back in action on Monday evening alongside Ross Hutchins as the pair secured a doubles victory over Nicolas Almagro and David Marrero.
French wildcard Chardy, who has lost all three of his previous meetings against second seed Murray, secured his place in round two after Spain’s Marcel Granollers was forced to retire through injury having lost the opening set.
Meanwhile, world No1 Novak Djokovic is yet to decide whether or not to jeopardise his place the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s 02 Centre later this month by risking his troublesome shoulder this week in pursuit of a £1m bonus.
As top ranked player the Serb is obliged to play all eight mandatory Masters series events in order to collect £1.4m from the bonus pool, and he has already missed Shanghai through injury.
That absence cost him £290,000, but should he decide to save his shoulder for the ATP World Tour Finals and skip Paris, he will receive no bonus payment at all.
Wimbledon champion Djokovic suffered the recurrence of a shoulder injury during his semi-final defeat at the Swiss indoor event at the weekend and will leave it as late as possible before deciding whether to take on Ivan Dodig of Croatia today.
“It’s a good problem to have, right, he’s already made 10m bucks on court this year,” said world No1 four Roger Federer, who faces Adrian Mannarino today.