Andy Murray was disappointed after winning just eight games against 10th seed Denis Shapovalov on Friday evening in the third round at Wimbledon. The former World No. 1 has battled so hard to find good form after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, but he is still far from the level that took him to two titles on Centre Court.
“There is a part of me that feels a bit like I have put in so much work the past three months and ultimately didn’t play how I would want and expect. It’s like, ‘Is it worth it?’” Murray wondered. “Is all of that training and everything that you’re doing in the gym — unless you’re able to practise and improve your game and get matches and continue, get a run of tournaments — is it worth all of the work that you’re doing?”
It was a despondent moment after a difficult loss against one of the most dynamic young players on the ATP Tour. It is tough for the 34-year-old to accept his current level, knowing what it feels like to be in full flight, especially on Centre Court, where he has created moments of magic that will be discussed for generations. He knows the buttons to push, but at the moment the remote is not responding.
However, there were a lot of positives for the Scot this week at the All England Club, where he won two tough matches in his first singles appearance since 2017. Murray made clear after his first-round win against Nikoloz Basilashvili that he is still pushing forward.
“I keep getting asked is this going to be my last Wimbledon, last match. I don’t know why I keep getting asked about it,” Murray said. “No, I’m going to keep playing. I want to play… I can still play at the highest level. He’s ranked 28th in the world and I haven’t hardly played any matches and I beat him.”
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Murray admitted that one of his big issues was a lack of consistency caused by a shortage of matches. This was just his fifth singles tournament of the season, and he did not win more than one match at any of the three previous tour-level events he played.
“I feel like I can do better tennis-wise. I feel like I can play better and close matches out better,” Murray said. “But to do that, I need time on the match court and I need more time on the practice court, and I’ve had neither in the past few months.”
There were plenty of bright spots. Most notably, Murray’s trademark fighting spirit was in full effect. Despite letting slip a 5-0 lead in the third set against Basilashvili, he fought back. The same was true when he fell two-sets-to-one down against Oscar Otte in the second round.
“This week has been really good in some ways, but it’s been frustrating too. I played two long matches, and it’s really significantly more than anything I have done in the past six months,” Murray said. “So if my game is not quite spot-on physically, I’m not perfect, or physically really fresh, it’s going to be hard for me. It’s extremely frustrating, because I feel like I put a lot of work into getting to this point, and then obviously to lose like that is tough.
“Being as good as he is. I don’t want to take anything away from his performance. He played really, really well. But if I’m going to put that much effort in, I want to be performing better than what I did here, even though there were some great moments.”
Shapovalov Shines To End Murray’s Wimbledon Campaign
Importantly, Murray has come through three best-of-five-set matches healthy. For the past few years, that has been the three-time major winner’s biggest nemesis. The former World No. 1 believes that while his movement might not be as good as it once was, he is still capable of high-level tennis.
“I need matches and I need a run of them and time on the practice court if I want to improve my game, which clearly I need to. I’m not suggesting my game is in the best place,” Murray said. “I’m going to have to spend a lot of time on the practice court working on stuff.”
The Centre Court crowd tried to urge the two-time Wimbledon champion back into the match against Shapovalov. Murray greatly enjoyed the support and said he has missed it. But he still departs disappointed.
“I’m not expecting and saying I would beat Denis Shapovalov. He’s a brilliant player,” Murray admitted. “But I feel like I can do a lot better than what I did this evening.”