Andy Murray despondent after suffering Paris Masters defeat to Alex de Minaur - 'I'm not enjoying it just now'
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Published 31/10/2023 at 08:58 GMT
Andy Murray has admitted he is "going to need a lot of work" if he is to continue playing tennis and get back to a level where he feels like he can compete and enjoy himself again. The Brit suffered another setback with his fifth straight loss to Alex de Minaur in the first round of the Paris Masters after he battled back from losing the first set to surrender a 5-2 lead in the decider.
Murray lets lead slip as De Minaur maintains dominance over Brit
After surrendering a 5-2 lead in the deciding set to lose to Alex de Minaur in the first round of the Paris Masters, Andy Murray admitted he is "not really enjoying" tennis at the moment.
De Minaur has been a thorn in the Brit’s side, especially this season, but the three-time Grand Slam winner looked set to end a run of five straight defeats against the Australian after recovering from dropping the first-set in a tie-break.
But it wasn’t to be for Murray, who lost five straight games and passed up a match point in the decider to cap off a 7-6(5) 4-6 7-5 defeat in an encounter that was symptomatic of his season.
“I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing,” Murray said afterwards.
“The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try to find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that, there’s not 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…”
Murray cut himself off before going any further, but it’s little wonder his spirits were down given the manner of his latest setback.
The 36-year-old rallied from dropping his first service game of the match to force three set points in the opener before losing it 7-5 in the tie-break.
The pair then traded breaks to begin the second set before Murray made a decisive move in the ninth game, and he served out to level the contest and wrestle the momentum away from his opponent.
That looked set to be the key moment of the game until the late collapse that featured an outburst of anger as Murray smashed a racquet to invoke a few boos from the French crowd.
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Murray smashes racquet after agonising defeat to Alex de Minaur
Murray is scheduled to play in next week’s ATP 250 event in Metz and the Davis Cup Finals on November 21 but threw his participation in both events into doubt.
“If I want to keep going, I’m going to need a lot of work,” Murray added. “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.”
If Murray has had enough of facing De Minaur, so has his fellow Brit Katie Boulter. The British No. 1, who is the girlfriend of De Minaur, took to social media to vent her own frustrations.
“Had enough Alex and Andy for the rest of my life. No more please and thank you.”
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