Questions around how the final chapter of Andy Murray’s career will play out remain as pertinent as ever
The 2012 champion has not made it past the third round of the US Open since 2016, when he reached the last eight
Andy Murray suffers loss to Dimitrov at US Open 2023 Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic
Andy Murray was left to rue a performance he deemed not good enough in yet another painful Grand Slam loss, this time to Grigor Dimitrov.
Despite a high quality opening set in which the former world No 1 forced Dimitrov to produce some of his best tennis in order to get over the line, Murray felt that there were areas of his game that were evidently not up to scratch when it comes to performing at Grand Slam level.
Misfiring serve hands strong advantage to Dimitrov
Specifically, Murray felt as though an under-par serve left him exposed to Dimitrov’s advances, as well as hurting his winner count.
“I didn’t serve well,” Murray said bluntly in his post-match press conference.
“Obviously started every single set. I think I got broken at the beginning of every set so could never sort of get any scoreboard pressure really.”
As well as leaving him vulnerable to breaks, a serve that wasn’t working at optimal capacity left the Scot unable to adequately set himself up for winners in his service games.
Murray was only able to muster 16 winners throughout the match, compared to the 32 that Dimitrov hit.
The former British No 1 believes that it was predominantly his off-colour serving that was the cause of this.
“If you don’t serve that well, you don’t get as many chances on the third ball of the rally to hit winners and finish points or hit and come to the net.
“Which is, you know, for me is usually when I would tend to move forward more earlier in the points behind my serve.
“And I wasn’t getting many free points there. Yeah, serve wasn’t big enough and not enough in the court.”
Pivotal home stretch of the season for Andy Murray
There are several possible avenues the rest of Murray’s season could take. For one, he is due to compete in the Davis Cup which follows hot on the heels of the US Open, kicking off just two days after the tournament’s conclusion.
Yet, the man who led Britain to its first Davis Cup title in 79 years does not currently believe he merits a place in the team.
“Obviously the plan was to play Davis Cup, but if I’m being honest, you know, the other guys deserve to play ahead of me.
“I think there is probably a chance that I’m not on the team.”
The Asian hard-court swing will also soon be looming large once the US Open is over, with tournaments in China taking place again for the first time since 2019 due to the country’s long-lasting Covid-19 policy.
Should one of Murray’s primary aims still be to earn a seeding for future Grand Slam tournaments, then a strong showing in Asia would be a golden opportunity for the Scot to ensure he achieves this.
In the aftermath of a disappointing result, Murray questioned whether a seeding would even help a deep run at a major if the performances are not at the level required.
“But yeah, for me, it’s more about sort of the level you put out there and the performance and whether I was seeded or not here in the top 32, then I don’t think that that guarantees that I’m going to have a deep run either.”
This was likely to be the pain of a difficult loss talking, however. It is more than fair to say that the level Murray produced in the opening set would have been enough to win it against most opponents outside the world’s top 32.
Enjoying the work and an upward trajectory crucial to Murray’s perseverance
For someone who has reached the dizzying heights that Andy Murray has in his career, however, standards remain sky-high.
Today, the three-time Grand Slam champion simply did not think he played well enough – seeding or otherwise – in one of the most important matches of the year to earn a third-round place in a major.
Yet, as ever with the indefatigable Scot, the motivation is derived from working harder in order to play better.
“I still enjoy everything that goes into playing at a high level. I enjoy the work. You know, the training and trying to improve and trying to get better, I do still enjoy that,” Murray explained.
“If things change and I stop enjoying that… If I start to go backwards in that respect, if in a few months’ time I was ranked 60 in the world or whatever instead of moving up the way, things might change.”
Whether chasing a seeding or not, Murray’s ranking trajectory for the final few months of the season will be pivotal to how – and when – his career ends.
As he draws a line under his Grand Slam campaigns for another season, exactly how the final chapter of Andy Murray’s stellar career will play out remains as uncertain as ever.
