Andy Murray believes all tennis players should be prepared to accept a vaccine for coronavirus, if it means that the tour can return to normal in early 2021.
The sport’s international nature has made the Covid crisis especially challenging, and its cultural diversity means that not everyone may be happy with taking a jab. Novak Djokovic has been a notable example of someone expressing reservations.
Yet with the dates and viability of next year’s Australian Open the latest issue to convulse the sport, Murray reckons an insistence on everyone being vaccinated is the way out of the morass.
Andy Murray wants players to be ready to accept a vaccine to get the calendar back on track
Murray and his rivals are unsure about the dates and viability of next year’s Australian Open
‘I think it probably should be the case,’ said the 33 year-old Scot amid what was an upbeat assessment of his prospects for the coming season.
‘I would hope that all the players would be willing to do that for the good of the sport – providing everything has proved to be safe, clinical trials and everything have been done, and there are not any significant side effects. From what I’ve been hearing on the TV and in the news, is that there shouldn’t really be any long-term effects. So I would hope that the players would all be willing to do that.’
He acknowledged that not everyone may be happy, and was reminded of doubts expressed by Djokovic – who has some left field ideas on health matters – early on in the pandemic.
‘I guess it would be difficult. I also read he’d said if it was something that had to be done for him to play the sport, he would. So I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the ATP position is going to be on that.’
Murray called an end to another truncated season last month, having experienced more problems with his hip in the wake of an epic first round victory at the US Open that took nearly five hours.
Novak Djokovic previously claimed he would delay return to tour if a vaccine was compulsory
He admitted that he may have let his usually fearsome work ethic slightly slip after that, with some of the figures emerging from tests slipping below his normal standards. According to the player, he took more long-term motivation from those numbers than the suggestion by former champion Mats Wilander that he should consider whether it was right to keep taking wildcards.
‘I got on this body fat percentage scale thing, and the readout that I got, I wasn’t happy with it. I was like, right, I can get myself in much better shape than I’m in just now. I could make sure I’m eating better, make sure I’m stronger in the gym.
‘For me, it’s going to be potentially ten to twelve weeks, that’s the length of time a boxer would have to train for a big fight and you can get yourself in great shape in that time. Having some testing done that I wasn’t particularly happy with, that was kind of enough to change my mentality.’
Murray, who started practising again two weeks ago, concedes that he may never quite recapture the lightning turn of pace that made him such an exceptional athlete, but feels he could get physically stronger to try and compensate.
‘I’ve been doing tonnes of work in the gym and trying to build towards beating all of my personal bests, which has been quite exciting for me. The only thing that I maybe won’t get to the same level is the speed. But I’m hoping that by improving my strength and my power that that will help me get a little bit faster on the court.’
Murray has conceded that he may never recapture his lightning turn of speed on the court
He believes he will go deep in tournaments once again with a run of fitness, although achieving that goal has not been easy in recent years.
‘I know I will perform and win big matches if I can get properly healthy for an extended period of time,’ said Murray. ‘That’s why I’m doing the work, I haven’t forgotten how to play tennis. With my age and the metal hip I can’t really afford to have any chinks or be slightly heavier than what I should be, or have weaknesses in my body that I maybe could have got away with when I was younger.’
Murray also added his voice to those calling for tennis authorities to adopt a policy dealing with domestic abuse allegations, such as those which have been attached to Alex Zverev in the past month, which he denies.
‘Obviously I don’t think they actually came out and said anything for I don’t know how long, but it certainly was not immediate. Tennis doesn’t have a domestic abuse policy so that is obviously something we as a sport should be looking into. So that the ATP know what to do in that situation, rather than having to think and react to it.’
Like every other player he is currently awaiting instructions from the Australian Open about when they can arrive to start quarantine for an event scheduled to begin on January 18.
Murray has admitted he would not play at the Australian Open without ideal preparation time
Complex discussions are taking place with Melbourne’s State government and, like others, Murray says there is no way he would play without a reasonable amount of preparation. Tennis Australia wants players to be allowed to train in a bubble once they arrive.
‘The latest I’ve heard is that they’ve planned to push it back a couple of weeks, not right up until Indian Wells/Miami time in March. I think that would be the best case scenario. That would allow the players to get over there at the beginning of January and prepare properly for the event. I’ll go as soon as I can.
‘A lot of players are coming from very cold climates just now. To then go and ask players to play in 35, 36-degree heat with no match preparation, it just increases the risk of injuries. If it was in a hotel room for two weeks and then had three or four days to get ready, I wouldn’t do that.’
He now expects to spend Christmas with his family at his home in Surrey, rather than go up to Scotland for a rare visit.
‘Obviously, not getting to see your extended families is tough around that time of year,’ he said. ‘But if that’s what we’ve got to do to keep everyone safe for the time being, it’s probably worth it.’
Andy Murray wears AMC, a premium tennis clothing brand, created and designed by Andy and Castore.
