Progress made: disappointed with loss to Bublik at Newport, Murray vows to continue quest

Andy Murray will crack the ATP’s top-50 for the first time since 2018 on Monday. But the former world No 1 has his sights set higher.

Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – June 27, 2022 Britain’s Andy Murray celebrates winning his first round match against Australia’s James Duckworth || © AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Chris Oddo

July 16, 2022

Andy Murray has made another small step this week at Newport, where he reached his third quarter-final of 2022 and assured himself a spot in the ATP’s top-50 in next week’s rankings. But the former world No 1 is still very much hungry for more as the North American hard court seasons beckons.

“The grass-court season as a whole there were some good moments, but also some tough ones. Today’s match and the loss at Wimbledon were disappointing and frustrating for me, but then I also had my best wins in a while in Stuttgart,” Murray told the ATP on Friday after falling to Bublik in straight sets on the grass at the Hall of Fame Open. “So a bit up and down, but a little bit of progress overall and I’ll try and keep that going through the hard-court summer.”

I want to be seeded at Slams

Murray’s two victories at Newport will bring him closer to a stated goal. The Scot wants to be seeded for this year’s US Open, and he knows he’ll have to play well this summer to do it.

“I really want to try and improve my ranking to a level where I’m getting seeded in slams,” Murray said after his second-round loss to John Isner at Wimbledon two weeks ago. “That was a goal of mine sort of post Miami.

“I’ve spoken to my team a lot about that, and that’s something that I want to try and put myself in a position [to achieve] hopefully come the US Open. If not the US Open, then going into the Australian Open.”

Since the start of 2020, five of Murray’s six losses at the Slams have come to players ranked inside the top-25, and he has faced four of the five earlier than the third round. It’s a scenario that Murray would like to avoid in New York.

“I was coming into Wimbledon feeling like I could have a deep run. If you’re playing against top guys right at the beginning of the event, obviously makes it a little bit more challenging. That’s kind of what my goals are between now and the US Open.”

“I just want the results to be better”

Though he continues to play closer to his potential, Murray still has not won an ATP title since 2019, and he has gone 5-16 vs the top-20 since the start of 2020.

When you have 46 titles to your name like Murray does, going home a loser week after week isn’t the easiest pill to swallow.

“Obviously I just want the results to be a bit better,” he said on Friday in Newport. “I felt like I had a good chance of [advancing] here. If I got through Bublik, it would have been a good opportunity potentially in the semi-finals.”

That said, Murray is making progress. He has won two of his last four matches against the top-20. And his body continues to hold up well – he already has 32 matches under his belt in 2022, just four shy of the total he amassed in all of 2021.

“To have my body feeling pretty good and getting lots of matches in is important for me,” he said.

As he said at Wimbledon, there are no guarantees when it comes to fitness, but as long as he feels good, expect Murray to keep inspiring – and improving.