John McEnroe felt Andy Murray’s body ‘wasn’t up to it’ in his straight sets defeat to Denis Shapovalov at Wimbledon and questioned whether he would ever be able to compete with the world’s best again.
Considering the lack of match play Murray has had, there were positives to take from a run to the third round at Wimbledon but he was left frustrated by the manner of his exit.
On Friday night, Murray, the two-time Wimbledon champion, questioned if it was ‘worth it’ to continue slogging away, with his body not allowing sufficient practice to hammer his game into shape,
He reiterated to the BBC on Saturday that something will need to change if he’s to return to the All England Club.
‘I hope so. I would love to be back here again,’ said Murray. ‘I just need to weigh everything up and see if everything I’m putting into it is worth it because I put so much time and effort into all of the stuff I was doing in the gym to try and get myself physically ready.
‘But I’m just not getting enough time and momentum on the tennis court to really give myself the best chance of performing well. That’s been the case for the past nine or 10 months.
‘Unless I’m able to get that, I’m not going to be able to compete with the best players in the world. They’re great players, they hit a huge ball, and you need to be spot-on if you want to be able to compete with them.’
One positive for Murray is that his ranking will rise to just outside the top-100, meaning he won’t require a main draw wildcard for the US Open in August. He will play at the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this month and outlined his hopes to land a fourth medal for Great Britain.
In the long run, however, it’s unclear how long Murray will continue.
McEnroe hopes to see former world No. 1 Murray turn his career around but fears the British great has lost the explosive movement his game was once built upon.
‘It just really depends on can the body take it,’ said McEnroe. ‘If you have a metal hip, you’re 34, there is a lot of wear and tear on the body.
‘You hope it does happen because we want to see him go out on the terms he wants to go on. Ultimately you have to get out on the court and guess what, he’s going to play on a cement surface now. That’s not going to be easy when you have to start and stop and slide.
‘He hadn’t played here in four years. Everything that he’s gone through just to get to the point where obviously his body wasn’t up to it against Shapovalov.
‘There’s a fair amount of guys who hit the ball as hard as that. You need explosion in that first step. If you don’t have it, with the way these guys hit the ball, you’re done.
‘He is in the top six to eight movers ever. He won a lot of matches that way. But Andy’s style is more reactive than proactive and playing that way is extremely difficult to do if you feel you’ve lost a little half or quarter step.
‘How long can he keep playing at 100 in the world?’
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