Former world No.1 Andy Murray says he left Wimbledon disappointed with his performance but a conversation he had with his young daughter is motivating him to continue his career.
Murray reached the third round at Wimbledon in what was his best run at a major since undergoing two surgeries on his hip. He scored wins over Nikoloz Basilashvili and Oscar Otte at The All England Club before losing to world No.10 Denis Shapovalov who went on to reach the semi-finals.
Following his exit from the Grand Slam, Murray admitted that he was disheartened about his performance and even questioned his future in the sport. However, Murray isn’t giving up on his career just yet and part of that is thanks to comments from his five-year-old daughter Sophia.
“I was very disappointed after Wimbledon. With each major tournament that passes… and when you’re getting asked questions a lot it’s always about my future and stuff, so naturally from that and the fact I’d not performed as well as I’d like to, you question things and doubt yourself a little bit,” Murray told reporters on Thursday.
“But when I got home the day after my match my daughter said to me ‘Daddy, you’re home because you lost another tennis match’ and I said to her, ‘yeah I did, what do you do if you lose?’ and she said ‘you try and try again’.
“And I was like yeah, that’s what I want to do. I want to keep playing because I enjoy it and think I can still play at a high level.
“There’s been difficult moments in last few months and year with injuries but right now this is the healthiest I’ve been in the longest period. I’m getting better and improving and hopefully that stays that way until the end of the year.”
Murray is in Tokyo making his final preparations ahead of his title defence at the Olympic Games. He is the only player in history to have defended a singles title in the Olympics after triumphing in 2012 and 2016.
Although he faces a tall order to claim a third consecutive gold medal. In the first round he is set to take on Felix Auger-Aliassime who he lost to at the US Open last year. He has also been handed a tough start in the doubles draw where he will be playing alongside Joe Salisbury. The duo will play reigning French Open champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert who are the second seeds in the draw.
“It’s not going to be easy and in a slightly different position to four or five years ago when I would have been expected to get one and that’s maybe not the case this time around,” he said.
Admitting that Tokyo is likely to be the last Olympics he plays, Murray says he is motivated to add to his medal tally. In 2012 he also won a silver medal in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson.
“That would be for me probably my best achievement if I could do that after everything that’s gone on the last few years. So, I’m motivated for that reason alone. And yeah I still believe that I can do that,” Murray replied when asked about the prospect of winning another medal.
“I know this could be the last one. So, I want to go out there and leave everything out on the court and fight for every single point because that’s all you can do.”
The Olympic tennis tournament will start on Saturday.
