Andy Murray has made big strides this season but being the perfectionist he is, he is far from delighted about his results on the Tour.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has climbed up the world rankings by almost 100 places to be inside the top 50. This year Murray has won 26 out of 45 matches played on the Tour but failed to claim a title of any sort. The closest he came to was in Stuttgart where he reached the final before losing to Matteo Berrettini and in Sydney where he was denied the title by Aslan Karatsev.
Whilst playing in Stuttgart Murray suffered an abdominal strain which briefly derailed his progress on the Tour but fortunately for the Brit the issue wasn’t as severe as some of the other problems he has previously experienced. Murray has undergone two hip surgeries to allow him to continue his career.
Reflecting on the past 12 months, the 35-year-old has rated his performance as ‘pretty average’ but is far from pleased about it when comparing his recent results to other stages of his career. It was six years ago when he became No.1 in the world and he held that position for 41 weeks in a row.
“When you’ve been at the top of the game and got to No 1, that’s always where your reference point is in terms of how you’re doing,” Murray said on the ATP Radio’s podcast.
“So in that respect it’s been pretty average, but at the beginning of the year I was ranked No 135 in the world and now I’m around 45, which is a big jump. I would have liked to have done better, I don’t think I played my best tennis….but it’s been OK this year.”
During the off-season, Murray will play in the Battle of the Brits exhibition event which will take place in Aberdeen between December 21-22. He will also spend time in Florida training to help him prepare for what he describes as ‘big plans’ for 2023.
“I want to keep progressing. This year I have progressed a lot from where I was. If things don’t keep improving then I’ll have to look at things but I’m still going in the direction I want to be and I’ve got big plans next year.” He said.
One area he will be looking to improve in concerns the Grand Slam tournaments. Murray lost in the second round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2022. His best run was at the US Open where he reached the third round before losing to Berrettini.
Murray has won 46 Tour titles so far in his career
