• What the Deuce

Murray's Marseille muddle

Andy Murray was the top-ranked player before his withdrawal from the Marseille Open © Getty Images

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There is certainly no love lost between Andy Murray and the French this week after the Scot pulled out of the Marseille Open citing fatigue. The fact that Juan Martin del Potro pulled out on the same day with a wrist injury just added insult to injury for the organisers of the Open 13 event who lost their top two seeds within hours of each other.

It is not the first time that he has done it, either - as organiser Jean-Francois Caujolle was quick to point out, Murray did the same thing last year. But in fairness to Murray, he is not the first person to withdraw from an event at the 11th hour and he certainly will not be the last. Caujolle called for Murray to be suspended by the ATP, only to later deny the claim.

At the Paris Masters tournament back in 2006, five of the top six players, including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick pulled out with fatigue, injury or illness, prompting tournament co-director and former Grand Slam finalist Cedric Pioline to call for suspensions to players who remove themselves at the last minute. "The only penalty of any use would be suspension," Pioline said. "It's the only thing the players understand because financial penalties won't make any difference."

The tennis calendar is one of the longest schedules in sport, with just December off (and if you are playing in the Davis Cup final it is even shorter). Amid calls for the season to be reduced, players pick and choose which events to attend. Venus and Serena Williams are notorious for only turning up to the big tournaments, and Federer is half the player at lower-tier events when compared to the 16-time Grand Slam champion that graced our television screens to deny Murray his first Grand Slam last month.

With a tournament somewhere in the world every week for 11 months of the year, some of the lower-ranked players travel the circuit and build up their tour rankings, while the better players can afford to be more selective in their choice of events.

Murray's decision has not made him any friends in France, but it won't bother the world No. 4 too much © Getty Images

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While England left-back Ashley Cole is out of action for three months with an ankle injury, he remains an employee of Chelsea Football Club, and whether or not he even makes it onto the bench before the end of the season, he will still get paid, and rather generously at that.

Murray earns his living by winning tennis matches. Yes, he will see money from endorsements and sponsorship, but winning tournaments is his bread and butter. If Murray were to pick up an injury in Marseille that saw him ruled out for three months, that would be three months' earnings down the drain.

Winning in Marseille this week would see Murray take home €92,400, roughly the same amount he would win for a semi-final appearance at the Dubai Tennis Championships next week. Then, almost immediately after Dubai, Murray has back-to-back Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami. Victory at either of those two tournaments - Murray is the defending champion in Miami - would see him pocket $605,000, and one thousand ranking points, four times that on offer in Marseille.

It is easy to sympathise with tournament organisers like Caujolle who are dependent on big names like Federer, Nadal and Murray to draw the crowds but, as it is clear to see with Nadal, playing every day week in, week out will take its toll on a player.

Just as a Premier League manager would rest their star player ahead of a must-win Champions League quarter-final, should Murray miss Wimbledon because he chose to play in a lesser tournament two weeks before when he wasn't fully fit, British fans would be outraged.

In an ideal world Murray would be playing in Marseille this week; Monsieur Caujolle would be happy and there would be no call for suspensions. But Murray is master of his own schedule and the two big US hard court events must be his main priority before the clay court season begins in April. Is it a selfish decision? Yes, perhaps, but tennis is not a team game and no-one gets anywhere by being selfless.

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