Andy Murray casts a big doubt over his future after devastating Paris defeat
Elite athletes need a sign to confirm their time is up in the sport and Andy Murray may have got that in Paris.
As the former world No 1 moved into a 5-2 lead in the deciding set against Alex De Minaur, it appeared he was about to collect his first win against the Australian at the sixth attempt.
Murray was the superior player for most of the match and when he moved into a double break lead and headed towards the winning line in the third set, a disappointing few months appeared to be about to take a turn for the better for Murray.
Yet one break of serve was followed by a second and then a third, with Murray failing to even get to a tie break against an opponent who was there for the taking, especially when Murray had match point on his own serve at 5-4.
Murray’s reaction at the end summed up the simmering volcano that had been brewing inside him for the previous 20 minutes, as he threw away a match that seemed to be his.
The Scot didn’t just smash his racket as he lost the final point as he destroyed the Head frame in a manner that suggested he would not be needing it again.
*5-2 30-30
*5-4 40-30@alexdeminaur simply CANNOT lose to Andy Murray 😈The Aussie extends his H2H vs the Scot to 6-0 by coming back to win 7-6 4-6 7-5 at the #RolexParisMasters! pic.twitter.com/4CSaJrKKvm
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 30, 2023
Then when he spoke to the media, it was clear that Murray’s patience with his attempts to come back to the top of the game is wearing thin after this latest harrowing defeat.
“I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing,” Murray told several national newspapers.
“The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not much positivity there.
“When I play a good point, I’m not really getting behind myself and then in the important moments, that will to win and fight has always been quite a big, big part of my game.
“If I want to keep going, I’m going to need a lot of work.
“It’s not just going to be like one or two weeks of training to get me to where I need to get to, it’s going to have to be a lot of work and consistent work to give myself a chance.”
Murray made similarly pessimistic comments after his defeat against Grigor Dimitrov at the US Open in August and he was similarly downbeat as he threw away chances to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon the month before that.
While he will not call time on his career until he plays in next month’s Davis Cup Finals for Great Britain, Murray’s appetite to go through another pre-season training block and flew down to Australia for the opening Grand Slam of 2023 is clearly not there right now.
This great champion has tended to brush off his setbacks in recent years and come back with a burning desire to put them right, but you wonder whether this time feels a little different.
Murray won more points against De Minaur and will know that he threw the match away with his own inconsistencies, especially on his forehand side.
So while there were some positives to take from his performance, this is a story that has been repeated far too many times over the course of 2023 for Murray not to start doubting whether he can ever scale the heights again.
No one will ever doubt Murray’s desire to defy the doubters and get back to his best, but the results over the last couple of years suggest his efforts are forlorn.
He will end this year with a 16-17 losing record in top level tour events and that is not a statistic that will encourage one of the game’s modern greats to continue to put himself through the pain barrier.
Murray has earned the right to decide how he bows out of the game, but it seems he is now closer than ever to giving up on his dream.
