Former World no.1 Andy Murray has had a difficult time since he has had his hip surgery. Murray is known to give his best but it hasn’t been an easy road for him since he has made his comeback. Murray has dealt with some heartbreaking losses in the recent past but the winning attitude is still there in him.
After the first-round exit from the US Open where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in thrilling five sets, the Brit registered a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert in Metz.
Murray said, “There are two things that matter — your effort and your attitude, which is probably No. 1 as that’s what you can control. For me sport is about that. You either win or lose.
“Winning is what sport is all about, and if you can play great whilst doing that even better. But if you can’t, and you don’t play your best, then winning is a great feeling. That’s why I am still playing. I have a little goal — to get to 700 wins on tour. I’m not particularly interested in losing and playing well.”
In fact, the three-time slam champion admitted that he hasn’t been playing at his absolute best and things could have been different had he won some crucial points in his recent matches.
“I don’t think I’ve played that well recently, but my body has been good, and even not playing my best, I’ve created opportunities to win sets against a number of top players. There is no question that I can play better.
“The thing that has been frustrating for me in some of the matches is that I had opportunities — against [Andrey] Rublev I had 4-4, 15/30 in the first set [at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam], [Hubert] Hurkacz I had set points at 5-4, 15/40 [at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati] and the same thing against [Frances] Tiafoe at 5-4, 15/40 [at the Winston-Salem Open]. Countless opportunities against [Stefanos] Tsitsipas [at the US Open] as well. If I take those chances, those matches are very different.”
Murray has thus far won 683 tour-level matches. The former World no.1 feels the adjustments which he has made to his serve since Wimbledon is helping him win important points.
“The serve has been a big positive since Wimbledon, the changes that I have made there have really helped get me some free points. It got me out of some tricky situations today… At the US Open, I felt that I played a good match [against Tsitsipas] and lost. These are the matches that are really important to build confidence. Winning a match against a player around the Top 25 [today], and not playing your best tennis, is a real positive.
