Boris Becker urges Andy Murray to pull out of French Open rather than risk serious injury "I'm not a doctor, but if he's not fit, the question must be "Why play at all?" Nobody can win seven matches over the next fortnight without being in decent physical condition, not even Rafael Nadal. So if he has no realistic chance of winning a grand slam title in Paris, why not get some rest? Have a physical break ahead of the grass-court season. With Wimbledon and the Olympics coming up, that is two big reasons for Andy to think about his long-term health. Thursday's exhibition is unlikely to push Murray so hard, but the concern must be that this injury has been hanging around for many months. After the Gasquet defeat, he admitted that he had first felt it in December - which suggests that the groin problem that forced him to withdraw from the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena could have been a related issue. Murray looked to be back to full fitness for the Australian Open, where the Plexicushion courts suit him better than the sliding movements required by clay. He produced his best performance of the season against Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, eventually losing in five sets. "Hard courts might seem less forgiving," says Becker, "but at least you don't have to rally as much. On clay there is no escape. And Murray's results have taken a swift dip since the clay-court season began at Monte Carlo last month, with defeats against Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic and now Gasquet. Murray has declined to give any medical details, but his symptoms suggest a disc or nerve problem that is causing his back to lock up - in self-defence, essentially - whenever he has to go through a gruelling match. While he will probably be able to manage the issue through the early stages of the French Open, he will do well to shift it completely when his schedule over the next six weeks includes two grand slams as well as the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club. Assuming that he goes ahead and plays at Roland Garros, it might be a blessing in disguise if he happened to go out in the first week and thus give himself more time to recuperate before Wimbledon.