Andy Murray 'surprised' he can still 'compete' with the best players

August 1, 2023

Andy Murray, ATP Tennis Players, British Tennis Players, Tennis News

Andy Murray reveals he is ‘surprised’ that he can still ‘compete’ with the best players

Andy Murray has revealed that he is ‘sometimes’ surprised that he can keep up with ‘best players’ on the ATP tour, as the former No.1 alters his perspective on his second round Wimbledon defeat.

Murray has had two hip surgeries, and claims that his physical condition plays a big part into why he has this mindset, “I’m surprised by that sometimes, because I know how difficult it is for me physically now. That my game is still able to match up and compete with the best players, yeah, I’m surprised by it.”

The 36-year-old’s last match came the form of a five set defeat to fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon.

Murray was initially very ‘disappointed’ by the result having been two-sets-to-one up, but appears to be putting a more positive spin on the loss.

“It’s hard because ultimately, I would say in maybe certain events or certain periods of the year, it’s easier to not ignore the results, but not place too much emphasis on them,” explained Murray.

He continued, “But obviously when you play in the major competitions, they are the ones that ultimately you want to perform well in and that you will get judged on and at Wimbledon, it really wasn’t like I played a really bad match against Tsitsipas. So when I reflect on that tournament, I’m disappointed with the result.

“But there’s still signs for me there that from a tennis perspective I can still compete and win against the top players in the world, even though I lost that match. If I’d gone out and lost 6-1 6-1 6-1, played terribly and lost comfortably, the stage of my career that I’m at, maybe I’d start to look at things a bit differently.”

As Murray looks ahead to the US Open hard court swing, he revealed that he is still constantly looking for ways to improve in the latter stages of his career.

“Obviously the game always keeps evolving, keeps improving, and you need to do that as well as a player. And I enjoy that. It’s one of the things that motivates me – trying to improve – whether that’s on the court or in the gym,” said the three-time major winner.

“Like seeing my scores in the gym are improving or that my speed is getting a bit better, or [that] I’m serving at a slightly higher percentage or harder, I love that.”

He added, “It’s one of the great things about tennis in that that’s kind of down to me and my team. I can make that those changes if I want to, and if I’m willing to put the work in, and I still enjoy that.”

Murray will return to the match court this week in Washington D.C, with the No.44 receiving a bye to the second round before playing either Brandon Nakashima or Alexander Vukic.