Andy Murray gives his verdict as he is beaten in ATP Challenger semi-final

ATP Tour
Andy Murray

Andy Murray took positives from getting vital matches on the board after his LTA’s Surbiton Trophy run ended in a semi-final defeat to Denis Kudla on Saturday.

In blustery conditions, Murray was just two points away from sealing victory at 6-5 up in the second set though the American, now through to his second Surbiton final, rallied to seal a 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 victory.

Despite his defeat, Murray was not too concerned about how he played against the world No.83 in challenging conditions and was overall satisfied in his first appearance at the tournament in 18 years.

“It’s tough to read too much into how I played. I competed pretty well for the first couple of sets, third set not as well as I would have liked,” he said.

“It was brutal conditions for both of us today, there was not loads of amazing tennis. We were using different skills out there and trying to find ways to put the ball in difficult positions for the opponent. Denis did a better job of that today.

“I played some good matches this week. Today I’m not concerned about how I played. You can’t expect to play your best tennis when it’s like that.

“Overall it was good for me to get four matches, I would’ve liked to have won the tournament, but that wasn’t to be.”

Murray now heads off to Germany for the Stuttgart Open, which proceeds a return to home soil at Queen’s and then Wimbledon.

With some of the world’s best set to be competing in both Stuttgart and Queens as the grass court season gets underway, the Brit insists he is not setting lofty targets in the next couple of weeks.

“I just want to keep improving week on week and match on match. That’s all you can do really,” Murray added.

“You can’t control the results, you can’t predict how the results are going to go but hopefully I can make improvements each round.”

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA Website.

Andy Murray

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