Andy Murray was left questioning his tennis future after a disappointing third-round Wimbledon exit.
For the first time since his hip problems started in 2017, the 34-year-old tennis player won back-to-back matches at a Grand Slam. However, his luck ended in a third-round defeat at the hands of Denis Shapovalov. The 10th-seeded Shapovalov soundly defeated Murray: 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets.
The three-time Grand Slam champion was left wondering if all the effort he’d put in pre-Wimbledon was worth it.
“It was great playing in front of the crowds again… [it’s] something I have missed,” Murray said. “Yeah, it kind of reminds you, as well, why you do all of the work and everything. But then, yeah, on the flip side of that, the positive part is getting through the matches and, you know, feeling okay physically and not sort of getting injured.”
“You know, that’s good, but then there is a part of me that feels a bit like I have put in so much work the last three months and ultimately didn’t play how I would want and expect, and it’s like is it worth it?”
“So unless I and my team can find a way of keeping me on the court for a consistent period of time and allow me to practice the way that I need to compete with these guys, then, yeah, that’s when the discussions about what I do next will come in because I have genuinely put a lot into this to get to this point, but I’m not being able to practice, and prepare how I need to perform how I would like at these events. I’m not expecting and saying, like, I would beat Denis Shapovalov. He’s a brilliant player. But I feel like I can do a lot better than what I did this evening.”
Murray walked off the court to a standing ovation. He will now focus on the Tokyo Olympics where he will be defending the singles title that he won in London and Rio de Janeiro.
