‘The top 10 right now is one of the weakest we’ve seen for years, Novak Djokovic aside’

There are a lot of “damn good players” in the current top 10 of the ATP Rankings, but Andy Murray is still “as good as if not better” than most of those players.

That is the few of former British No 1 and current tennis commentator John Lloyd as he discussed Murray’s future following the tennis icon’s second-round exit from Wimbledon.

It remains to be seen if three-time Grand Slam winner Murray will return to SW19 next year after he went down in heartbreaking circumstances against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday.

The former world No 1 held a two-set to one advantage when the Centre Court curfew kicked in on Thursday evening, but it worked against him as his Greek opponent stormed back the following day to win 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

After the match Murray admitted that he was not sure if he would return next year and it is a topic that has been discussed by every man and his dog.

In his latest Daily Mail column, Lloyd wrote: “Will this be the last we see of Andy Murray at Wimbledon? If I had to put money on it I would say he will be back but I wouldn’t be confident.

“It sounds like he was absolutely shattered by that loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas and it is not easy to come back from that.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he thought he could win Wimbledon this year. Guys like Andy don’t turn up hoping to just ‘have a good run’, it is not in their DNA.”

Although Lloyd acknowledges that world No 5 Tsitsipas – a two-time Grand Slam runner-up – was excellent on the day, he felt the game was there for the taking.

“He will have expected to beat Tsitsipas. Players say they don’t look ahead in the draw but I’m sure Andy had a little peak and knew what a good opportunity this was,” he added.

“Tsitsipas was brilliant, it’s the best match he has ever played on grass, but Murray knows a few years ago he would have found a way to win. He’ll be the biggest critic of himself.”

Lloyd is also unimpressed by the top 10 in the ATP Rankings – which is as follows: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tifaoe.

He continued: “I think he believes, and I’m in agreement, that the top 10 right now is one of the weakest we’ve seen for years, Novak Djokovic aside obviously. They are damn good players but there’s definitely people in that top 10 who Andy would look at and believe he is as good as them if not better.

“But can he still squeeze enough out of himself that he can win these matches?”

READ MORE: John McEnroe gives his verdict on whether or not Andy Murray will play at Wimbledon next year