"Reality is, I need to work harder" - Murray after crashing out early in Paris

| by Evita Mueller

Andy Murray lost in the first round of the Paris Masters to Gilles Simon in three sets, a player, days away from retirement.

It was again another disappointing outcome for the Brit, who showed some promise this year but largely fell short of his objectives. In the defeat against Simon, Murray somewhat physically collapsed and was outplayed by a player who will retire in a few days.

"It’s nothing to do with my hip," said Murray after the match explaining that he simply needs to work harder:

"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."

Djokovic extends winning streak to 17 ATP matches with win over Cressy in Paris
Djokovic extends winning streak to 17 ATP matches with win over Cressy in Paris

It clearly bothered him in this match as his reaction time was slower as the match went on with some tired legs impacting his movement as well.

"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."

Another poor result brought forward the topic of retirement for Murray who has seen both Serena Williams and Roger Federer retire before him although many thought he we would go before them. He's not thinking about it:

"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."

Sad picture shows almost empty stadium at first match of WTA Finals with US no. 1
Sad picture shows almost empty stadium at first match of WTA Finals with US no. 1

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