Murray determined to turn his practice form into results

The former world No 1 could drop down to the Challenger Tour to regain confidence, as he did in 2023

Valentina Claret / Panoramic

February 7, 2024

Andy Murray says he’s determined to turn his good form in practice into results on the match court.

The former world No 1’s defeat by Tomas Machac in Marseille on Tuesday was his ninth loss in his last 10 matches, the worst run of form in his career.

But the 36-year-old, who continues to defy scientific expectations by competing at the top level after having a metal hip inserted, said he was frustrated that he had been unable to translate good form on the practice court into results in tournaments this year.

“You can take time away and practice and work on your game and try and get some positive feelings again but what happens on the practice court doesn’t always translate into the matches,” Murray told reporters, when asked how he can regain his confidence.

“My coach, in 2016, when I finished No 1 in the world, he told me he thinks I won maybe two or three practice sets in the whole year,” he said. “Then this year, I’ve won almost every practice that I’ve played, and I can’t win a match on the court, so it doesn’t doesn’t always translate.”

Andy Murray, US Open, 2023 — © Icon SMI / Panoramic

Challenger Tour an option again

Last year, Murray dropped down to the Challenger Tour to boost his confidence and build some match wins, winning three titles in the process.

Ranked No 49, Murray has points to defend in Dubai this month and there is a chance he could do the same thing again this time. “You need to get on the match court and try and find a way through, maybe dropping down a level, playing challengers, to build build confidence that way as well,” he said.

After his loss in Montpellier last week, Murray spoke out on social media in response to a line in an article which had suggested he was damaging his legacy by losing matches to people he would have thumped in his heyday.

MURRAY SAYS THE LEVEL OF PLAY IS THERE

Had a couple of points gone the other way toward the end of last year, Murray might have been able to count two wins over Alex de Minaur, the Aussie who has since broken into the top 10. Many of his defeats have been close, which helps him to believe the level is there, if not the results.

“In Beijing and Paris, Bercy, I lost two matches there against De Minaur, who is in the top 10 in the world. And I had match points. I served for the match in both of those matches. This was in the last three months. I mean, I know I didn’t win the matches, but I think if I was in that position…the majority of the time when you are serving with match points, it happens a few times in your whole career where you might lose those matches.

“So he’s a top 10 player, and I was very close to winning against him. I’ve had some some difficult losses, as well, but I you know, I lost to (Aslan) Karatsev, who’s a very good player, I lost to him three sets, I lost to (Tomas Martin) Etcheverry in three sets in Basel. Last year against (Stefanos) Tsitsipas (at Wimbledon), I lost in five sets and against Taylor Fritz, it was a close three-set match, (so) I can compete with the guys, my results have kind of shown that but I’ve not won the matches and when you lose a lot of them, you obviously you lose confidence as well.

“I never had that during my career. My whole career I was used to winning, always lots of matches and if I lost one week early usually the next week it was semi-finals, finals, winning, whereas now that’s not been the case.”

Andy Murray in Kooyong in 2024 (Zuma/Panoramic)

Murray defends his legacy

Speaking about it on Tuesday, he said he was doing what he loved doing.

“The easy thing for me to have done would have been to have stopped when I had the operation and said you know, I’m not I’m not going to play anymore.” he said.

“My feeling is that what I’m doing now is I’m playing because I love the game. I still really enjoy the practicing and the training and the travelling. Right now the competing is difficult for sure.

“I’m in a totally different place than I was in 2016. And a couple of losses now will not change what I achieved throughout my career.”