"Reality is, I need to work harder" - Murray after crashing out early in Paris
ATP
Andy Murray was not happy about his performance at the 2022 Paris Masters. After his first-round loss, the British player was very self-critical.
Murray won the Paris Masters in 2016, and he reached the final the year before. In 2022, he couldn't repeat those results at the final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season.
He took on home wild card Gilles Simon in the first round of the tournament. The Frenchman was the better player on the court, even though Murray won the first set. To the delight of the Parisian crowd, Simon won the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
After his loss, Murray didn't want to sugar-coat things. Speaking to the reporters present, he admitted that the loss had nothing to do with his hip. Instead, he felt like he didn't work hard enough to succeed.
"It’s nothing to do with my hip. I just think the reality is I need to work harder. I’ve not really done much since the US Open, like, physically in the gym, or anything. I’ve done, you know, very, very little. And that’s off the back of not doing a training period off the back of Wimbledon."
According to Murray, he's currently not able to keep up with the high intensity of the matches. If he wants to remain competitive, that is something that he needs to change.
"From an endurance perspective, that’s something that, for a large part of my career, I kind of pride myself on – being there right to the end of the matches, and being able to maintain a high level physically. I haven’t done that at all since… well in any of the tournaments since Wimbledon really, except New York. That needs to change."
Murray is also aware of the fact that his retirement is nearing. But before that, he wants to try to play his best tennis, even though he knows that he might not get a "perfect ending" to his tennis career.
"I’m aware that I’m not going to be able to play forever. I know that. From this year, the way people finish is different for everyone. It’s very rare that you get a perfect ending."
