Andy Murray believes there are more positives than negatives to be taken from his exit from the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday.
The former world No.1 fell 7-6(4), 6-3, to ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. Murray was broken just twice in the match and won 81% of his first service points but still fell short against his Polish opponent. This week was the first singles tournament he had played since Wimbledon, where he reached the third round before losing to Denis Shapovalov.
Despite his latest defeat, Murray is confident that his body is holding up well and the quality of his tennis has improved in recent weeks. A much-needed boost for the injury-stricken player who has undergone two hip surgeries in order to continue his career and was troubled by a groin problem earlier this year. Most recently at the Tokyo Olympics, he suffered a quad injury.
“I thought this week was fairly positive. I think I played much better than I did during Wimbledon and during the grass-court season,” said Murray.
Given his injury problems in recent times, Murray has grown accustomed to living in the moment and not planning too far in advance. When it comes to the future, he admits it could be dictated by how his body feels but at the moment the outlook is positive.
“If my body doesn’t feel good, that is something that will influence my future, and if, after competing for a number of months, if my tennis is sort of going backwards, that would be another sign for me that things are not how I would like them to be,” he explains.
“But I don’t see this week as going backwards. My body felt good. The American hard courts are not easy on the body. Physically, I was a little bit tired after some of the longer rallies, but in terms of pain and discomfort, my body was really good.”
One particular area of his game Murray is pleased about concerns his serve. In his first round meeting against Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati, the Brit fired a total of 14 aces. According to data supplied by Flashscore, that is the most he has produced in a match so far this year.
Although the 34-year-old admits there is still room for improvement and interestingly points out that he needs to work further on the tactics he uses during matches.
“The big thing for me is decision-making in important moments. Today there was just a few things like on one of the set points I really shouldn’t have missed the shot I did on the set point of 5-4 in the first set, and then I came into the net on a few balls that I sort of regret doing a little bit in the second set, as well, and in the tiebreak,” he said.
Murray says he is undecided about playing in Winston-Salem next week. Should he skip the event, he will return to action at the US Open.
