A shoulder harm, sickness and a bruised knee made for a “difficult” pre-season for Andy Murray, who accepts it may show to be the ultimate considered one of his profession.
By his personal admission, the 36-year-old didn’t get pleasure from a lot of final season and gained simply two matches in his closing 5 occasions of the 12 months.
Murray’s twentieth season on the ATP Tour will start on New 12 months’s Day with a match in opposition to second seed Grigor Dimitrov on the Brisbane Worldwide.
“If I used to be in a scenario like I used to be on the finish of final 12 months, then I in all probability would not go once more,” Murray instructed BBC Sport.
“However then if bodily I am doing effectively and my outcomes are good and I am enjoying effectively, then that is pleasurable and I may see myself nonetheless enjoying.
“We’ll see how the 12 months goes, see how the physique holds up. If issues are going effectively, I would like to hold going. But when they don’t seem to be, and I am not having fun with it, it might be the final 12 months, sure.”
Murray flew to Australia on 26 December, after a big household gathering on Christmas Day which included his brother Jamie and his mom Judy.
With 4 younger youngsters, it’s no shock the primary wake-up name got here at 3.30am but it surely didn’t spoil his Christmas lunch, which blended turkey with the leftover sushi the household had ordered on Christmas Eve.
Since arriving in Brisbane, Murray has been capable of play apply units with a number of the finest gamers on this planet, however was not capable of play a tie-break with Rafael Nadal as their court docket time ran out at 6-6 on Saturday afternoon.
The Scot practised with Jack Draper earlier than leaving the UK and says he additionally made the a lot of the presence of plenty of prime gamers throughout warm-weather coaching in Dubai.
However as he tries to rediscover the shape that took him near a Wimbledon seeding in the summertime, there have been a couple of too many issues for his liking.
“I had the shoulder harm earlier than Davis Cup [in November] so I wasn’t capable of serve for a couple of weeks, after which there’s clearly a gradual build-up to having the ability to serve full out,” he defined.
“And in addition I obtained fairly sick actually simply as I used to be leaving to go to Dubai, in order that made issues a bit difficult – and I had a bruised meniscus in my knee which additionally restricted me from doing sure issues.
“I used to be capable of nonetheless practise and do numerous coaching but it surely’s simply there was sure stuff I wasn’t capable of do – like enjoying factors and full-out sprinting and adjustments of route.
“So it isn’t been that easy however the final 10 days or so I’ve managed to get extra of that in. There are indicators in apply that my stage is nice sufficient.”
Murray’s frustration on the method he performed within the closing months of 2023 boiled over in Paris in October, as he smashed his racquet after failing to transform match factors and a 5-2 third-set lead over Alex de Minaur for the second time in little greater than a month.
“When you’ve performed proper on the highest stage, it isn’t that straightforward when you’re going by intervals the place you’re dropping in first rounds, and possibly dropping matches that you simply in all probability ought to have gained,” he mentioned.
“A part of that’s psychological, however a part of it is usually the place my sport was at as effectively.
“I served notably poorly within the latter a part of the season and getting low cost factors on my serve has been over my profession an enormous a part of my sport. I am hoping a number of the enhancements I made within the low season will assist me in these conditions and clearly mentally I have to do a greater job as effectively.
“However then, on the similar time, a few years in the past if somebody had provided me that I would been enjoying at top-40 stage on this planet after I had been scuffling with my hip, I’d have been proud of that.
“However it’s onerous, mentally, so I have to do a greater job of placing issues in perspective this 12 months and be a bit of bit simpler on myself.”
