Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray believes there is room for improvement in his game after securing a place in the second round of the Western and Southern Open on Monday.
The former world No.1 ousted Stan Wawrinka 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-5, in an epic encounter that lasted almost three hours. Making it one of the longest best-of-three matches Murray has played in recent time. The encounter was a stern physical test for the Brit who struggled with cramping during the later stages. Overall he hit a total of 38 winners against 27 unforced errors.
“I’ve struggled a little bit physically since Wimbledon. It’s something I need to work out with my team in the next couple of weeks,” said Murray.
“I was struggling with towards the end of the second set. Psychologically there is a feeling like you’re close to the end of the match potentially in the second set. So maybe you are going to try and sometimes play a little bit more conservatively because when I was getting into the return games or making balls on the return games, Stan was making a few errors.’
“But then obviously when I lost that set and then was struggling with the cramping, I had no option and nothing to lose really. So I started trying to be a little bit more offensive and finish the points quicker, and actually started to feel all right towards the end of the match.”
Murray is currently ranked 47th in the world and is closing in on breaking back into the top 40 for the first time since 2018. In recent years his campaign on the Tour has been hampered by various injury setbacks with the most serious being his hip which required two surgical procedures. At this year’s Stuttgart Open he reached the final but sustained an ab injury during his match against Matteo Berrettini.
Now hoping his injury misfortunes are behind him, the 35-year-old says physically he is feeling his best in a long time. Although he eyes further improvement in his tennis in the coming weeks. So far this season he has recorded 20 wins against 13 losses and has reached the final of two ATP Tour events. However, he has failed to win back-to-back matches in three out of his last four tournaments played prior to Cincinnati.
“In terms of how I pulled up after matches and stuff, this has been the best I have felt in a really long time. So that’s good,” Murray reflected. “I would like my tennis to be better at times because I’m still convinced that it can be better than where it is right now.’
“There have been some good moments this year but it’s not been easy these last few years to stay fit and healthy. Play enough tennis to get matches to learn from and to build confidence and to get my body sort of physically like robust enough to compete week in, week out.”
Continuing to analyze his performances on the Tour this year, he believes some of his early tournament losses have been due to the fact he has been unable to elevate his game. He has played five top 10 players so far in 2022 but his only win was over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Stuttgart.
“The reason why I felt like I haven’t won as many of those matches as I would have liked this year is because I haven’t been playing well enough. Even in some of the first-round matches that I have got through, I haven’t necessarily played amazing tennis and then haven’t stepped it up the next match when I have been playing against better opposition,” he said.
Murray will play compatriot and Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie in the second round at Cincinnati. Should he win it will be only his third victory over a current top 20 player this year.
