Broadcaster reveals ‘chilling’ Andy Murray story from Paris Masters
Tennis broadcaster Alize Lim has revealed she experienced a ‘chilling’ indication of the heartbreak Andy Murray is currently experiencing while working the Paris Masters.
Murray somehow managed to lose to Alex De Minaur in the first round despite being a double break up in the deciding set and twice serving for the match.
He smashed his racket on the court following the post-match handshake and in the press he openly admitted to growing concerns over his future within the ATP, but Lim says his frustrations went even further than that on the day.
Speaking to Eurosport, Lim said: “There is an image that struck me a little and chilled me – it was Andy Murray who broke his racket after the match point against Alex De Minaur.
“I was in the mixed zone, ready to do the interview of the winner at that moment, and I saw him pass and there, truly, his disappointment pierced my heart.
“I heard him break his rackets, behind, in the parking lot. And it really showed his motivation and how important it is to him.”
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What has Andy Murray said about his future?
Since his hip surgery in 2019, Murray has always maintained he was happy just to be playing tennis regardless of his results.
After his defeat to De Minaur, though, for the first time he suggested that maybe the joy is starting to ebb away.
“I don’t feel like I played particularly well today and I’m still in a three-set match with a guy ranked 13 in the world,” Murray said. “It’s frustrating. I’m not really enjoying it just now I would say just in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing.”
“The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, which doesn’t help things, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not really much positivity there.
“When I play a good point, I’m not really getting behind myself and then in the important moments, that will to win and fight that has always been quite a big, big part of my game. Like I said, what happened today, I don’t remember it happening before, but it’s very, very rare. Those sorts of situations happen quite a lot this year, and that’s not really me. It’s not enjoyable.”
Crucially, though, he didn’t reveal any plans to hang up his racket this off-season. In fact, he looked more determined to redouble his efforts.
“Sometimes you play really well in practice and it doesn’t necessarily translate onto the match court, but you at least feel like you’re getting somewhere,” he said. “Whereas for the most part in practice it’s not been great.
“A lot of frustration there in training, and that’s kind of carrying over into the matches.
“If I want to keep going, I’m going to need a lot of work. It’s not just going to be like one or two weeks of training to get me to where I need to get to, it’s going to have to be a lot of work and consistent work to give myself a chance.”
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