Andy Murray: Back-Injury Will Kill French Open Hopes

Things don't look good for Andy Murray, and withdrawing from the French Open is the most sensible option. It's only the second round, and Murray is already laid out, Larry Bird-style with back problems.

Murray fought through the issues to defeat unseeded Jarko Nieminen earlier today, but how long can he endure the pain. This is not a good sign for Murray who is seeking his first French Open title.

This isn't exactly Murray's best tournament and surface, even when he's healthy.

His .597 winning percentage on clay, coming into the French Open, is his lowest on any surface, and he hasn't had much luck specifically at Roland Garros.

He did reach the semi-finals last year, but he lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal. This was his best showing at the French Open in four tries, and he obviously had hopes of bettering last year's performance.

That isn't likely to happen; Nadal and Djokovic are playing lights-out (neither has dropped a set) and Murray is ailing.

He was blown away by Nieminen, 6-1 in the first set before rallying to win three-straight sets. The matches and opponents are only going to get tougher from this point on. If Murray has summon this type of resolve to beat an unseeded player, what happens later in the tournament?

Kevin Mitchell of The Guardian quotes Murray post-match:

"

"I don't know how I won, to be honest," he said. "I had a bit of a spasm, it hurt when I got up this morning and it was really bad 20 minutes after practice. I couldn't put any weight on my left leg.

"The guys were telling me to stop after the first set, and we spoke about it before the match [the possibility of retiring during play]. I just decided to play on. I felt a bit bitter, probably end of the second set. I thought, let's give it a go, chasing a few balls down. It's still fairly sore."

"

He must bow out of this tournament to prevent causing himself any long-term damage, or at least unnecessary pain. He will need to be at his best if he's going to challenge the likes of Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer, and he clearly is not 100 percent.

I feel like Adrian Balboa from Rocky IV yelling at Stallone: "you can't win!!"

Adrian was wrong, but I'm not. Murray should withdraw from the tournament and live to play healthy another day.

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