Andy Murray’s frustrations boil over as he slumps to another heavy defeat

Andy Murray may have lost his his latest defeat as the frustration gripping him was too much to contain as he lost against Roman Safiullin.

Murray screamed in anguish time and again as his efforts to kick-start his faltering season failed again as he lost 6-3 6-2 to an opponent ranked at No 41 in the world.

This was a tough first round draw for Murray, but after his narrow defeat against Alex De Minaur in Beijing last week, this first round exit in Shanghai will throw fresh doubt over his hopes of breaking back into the top echelons of the game.

Expletive-laden outbursts from the former world No 1 left few in any doubt about how he was feeling on court, with the former Wimbledon champion unable to play the tennis he still believes he can produce.

At the age of 36, the reality seems to be that Murray is no longer the force he believes he can be and after his trip to the Far East produced two first round defeats and a second round loss against Aslan Karatsev in Zhuhai.

Murray is a three-time champion in Shanghai, but the player who was outclassed and heavily beaten by Safiullin was not the player who beat some of the world’s best on this court.

The Scot made a rapid exit after his latest defeat and while he will almost certainly play at the Paris Masters later this month, the ranking progression he needs to continue his career does not appear to be imminent any time soon.

Murray suggested after his heavy defeat against Grigor Dimitrov at the US Open in September that he would consider retirement from the sport if his performance and ranking did not improve and the same questions will be asked of him now.

“It’s obviously disappointing to not play how you would like,” said Murray after his US Open exit.

“Maybe I need to accept that, these events, I had the deep runs and everything that I felt like I’m capable of, they might not be there, as well.

“I’m aware what I’m doing is unbelievably challenging to play at the highest level as I am now. And some days it’s harder than others.

“Ultimately these (Grand Slams) are the events that you want to play your best tennis in and create more great moments, and I didn’t do that this year.

“I still enjoy everything that goes into playing at a high level. I enjoy the work. The training and trying to improve and trying to get better, I do still enjoy that and that’s what keeps me going.

“If things change and I stop enjoying that or my results, my ranking and everything, if I start to go backwards in that respect, in a few months’ time I was ranked 60 in the world or whatever instead of moving up the way, things might change.”

On the evidence of what he could serve up against Safiullin, it won’t be long before Murray accepts his days of challenging the best players are now over.

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