Will Murray make the same mistake again for Wimbledon?

Twitter was set alight on Thursday afternoon after world No. 3 Andy Murray made the controversial decision to bow out of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, just days before the final of the Rome-based Masters event.

In an emotional announcement on his social media account, Murray posted the following:

“Sorry to everyone @InteBNLdItalia for withdrawing from the event today.. I always feel bad after making decisions like this but my body is extremely tired and fatigued right now having played 10 matches in the last 12 days. I wanted to try to compete in the event but after warming up today I didn’t feel able to compete. I hope next year I can [come back] to Rome and do better. Sorry Andy.”

The 27-year-old was previously due to take on Belgian David Goffin in the third round after beating France’s Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday. Prior to this event, Murray turned in back-to-back title-winning performances at the BMW Open in Munich and at the Masters event in Madrid, where he beat ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal for the first time on clay.

However, it has now emerged that Murray had in fact previously planned not to compete in the Italian Open, in order to preserve his body for the upcoming Grand Slam at Roland Garros, which begins on May 24.

This begs the question: is a little more than a week enough time to recover from such exhaustion? If not, could we see him physically compromised at the French Open and even Wimbledon? Indeed, the latter may seem far away now, as it commences on June 29, but in the run-up to the tournament Murray could still be competing for a potential 14 days at Roland Garros, which would leave him just three weeks to recover before returning to London.

It is for this very reason that this year’s Wimbledon event was moved back by a week after concerns were raised about stars’ recovery times. It is just one of the scheduling changes the ATP either has already implemented or is currently considering. Additionally, after recently starting matches at 1:00 a.m. local time in Madrid, these timing issues could also be addressed in the near future.

Murray joins Serena Williams in bowing out of Rome, as the women’s world No. 1 withdrew citing an elbow injury. Akin to Murray, the 33-year-old also had concerns about lack of time—specifically to practice—and as a result will now be resting to ensure she is in peak physical condition for Roland Garros.

The prestige of winning a Grand Slam tournament is second to none, but it would be even greater for Murray to take home the Wimbledon trophy once again on his home soil. It is for this reason that he should make the most of the scheduling changes for this year’s event, allowing him to forget his 2014 experience in which he was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Grigor Dimitrov. He played 13 clay-court matches that year and reached the semis in Paris. In 2013, Murray played only six clay-court matches, skipped the French Open, and then won Wimbledon.

For all tennis players it seems rest is best, so Murray should think twice about how much he wants to put in at the French Open if he is to repeat his 2013 Wimbledon success.