Andy Murray seeks fresh start in Rotterdam

Twelve years after winning his only Rotterdam crown, Andy Murray returns to the prestigious ATP 500 event ranked outside the top-100 and four consecutive ATP losses.

Andy has been dealing with numerous injuries and setbacks in the previous five seasons, undergoing two hip surgeries and giving his best to return to the court and extend his career. Following a strong finish of the 2019 campaign, Andy had to skip almost the entire previous season, working hard in December and hoping for a fresh start. Instead of traveling to Australia, Andy had to stay at home in January and deal with the coronavirus.

The Briton returned to action in Biella Challenger in Italy, reaching the final and heading to Montpellier, where he lost his fourth straight ATP match to Egor Gerasimov. Murray will try to score his first ATP win since the last year's US Open against Robin Haase on Monday in Rotterdam, feeling good on the court and eager to start winning again as soon as possible.

"I'm pumped to be back competing again. Physically I feel good, which is the most important thing. The next most important thing for me is to play matches and get back on the winning way. The coronavirus was more mental, to be honest, than physical. It affects your tennis a bit because it came at the end of a long training block. I'd trained hard for ten weeks and felt good, and then I wasn't allowed to do anything. I couldn't leave the house; that affects both the physical and mental side. I've missed quite many big tournaments in recent years with injury and stuff, and then that happened. I was disappointed.

It's still something that I'm probably getting over a bit from the disappointment and the mental side of things, but physically I feel good. It was 12 years ago when I won Rotterdam and 13 since I played Robin. A lot has changed since then. I like it a lot here; they've changed the whole setup. It's a shame that the fans aren't here, but I think they've done a great job with the center court. They've made a real effort to create an atmosphere that is difficult just now without the fans.

Considering the circumstances, they've done a nice job for the players, and big thanks to everyone involved. I want to try and get matches, but I need to focus on the first one and get through that. I've played Robin a few times on Tour; we know each other pretty well. We've had some tough matches in big tournaments, and he's a talented guy with a big game.

My focus is on that and trying to take each day as it comes just now. When you haven't played loads, you go into these matches, and it's not the same as it was four, five years ago when you were playing five, six matches a week, and you were used to that. I haven't played much, and I need to build my confidence and get some wins back," Andy Murray said.