Andy Murray is going to end the season with a bittersweet feeling after looking forward to a 2023 that looked very good for him after his spectacular start. He’s sure it hurts the way he’s going to end it, but he shouldn’t give up and continue down the same path.
In December of last year, the Briton made a decision thinking about his 2023 season. He wanted to lift a title again and reach the second week of a Grand Slam. To do this, he went to Florida for three weeks with his coach and physical trainer for intense training in double sessions and to prepare like he had never done for a new tennis season.
Your start to the year could not have been more hopeful. He made the third round at the Australian Open, after leaving us with two absolutely incredible first rounds where he spent 10 hours on the court after 10 sets against Berrettini and Kokkinakis. Then, in his next tournament, he reached the final after several marathons along the way and lost to a great Medvedev. Precisely, in Doha, something clicked. We don’t know if in his head or in his body, but Andy would never be the same since then.
Although he won three Challengers along the way, something that made him rise quite a bit in the Ranking, he would not win two matches in a row at the ATP level throughout the year, except in the Canadian tournament, where he ended up retiring. A very bitter end to the year, especially after what happened against De Minaur in Paris. He lost again to the Australian after going 5-2 up and having a match point. The image of him at the end of the match destroying the racket says it all.
It must surely hurt Andy. A lot.
Something happened in that final loss to Medvedev in Doha.
He spent four weeks in Florida last December 2022 training like a beast, looking to resurface and have a great season at 36 years old.
It started in style, with a… pic.twitter.com/qRFssYAZdx
— José Morón (@jmgmoron) October 30, 2023
Too many marathons have punished your body
Andy has played 50 matches this year. 20 of them have been decided in the final set. Of the 7 Grand Slam matches he has played, 3 of them went to fifth and one to fourth. A dozen of his matches have exceeded or bordered on 3 hours and he has several of 4 or more and one of almost 6. There are too many hours on the court, too much wear and tear for a body severely damaged by his hip problem, and there is no We must forget that Murray has a metal hip after an operation that almost threatened to end his career.
At 36 years old and entering a year where he will already be 37, Andy needs to adapt, reinvent his tennis a little to avoid such long rallies and make him spend fewer hours on the court. Obviously it is in his DNA to fight from the bottom and play very hard-fought matches, but so much wear and tear ends up affecting him and that causes a drop in his performance for the following tournaments.
How to face 2024 with guarantees
Surely this ending must have hurt you. Of course, Murray doesn’t deserve it, although in sport no one gives you anything. You have to achieve everything with your own effort, but, despite everything, I would tell Andy not to give up, to keep fighting. Let him go back to Florida in December and train the same again. Let him sit next to Lendl and spend hours playing at being more offensive and shortening the points more by going up to the net, because he also knows how to do it (and very well, too), and that, in this way, try to face the 2024 season with renewed energies.
I’m sure that by changing a couple of things and resetting his mind after a few weeks of vacation, we can see a better version of Murray next year. Despite everything, 2023 has ended on the verge of the Top 40. Anyone who takes a couple of steps forward and improves their results a little should be able to sneak into the Top 25. I hope they don’t give up and do it again, because that passion Because of Andy’s tennis, there is no shortage of it on the circuit and it is always a pleasure to see him compete.
2023-10-30 17:00:03
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