After his straight-set loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday night at the US Open, Andy Murray was asked if his performance over the last two weeks at the Western and Southern Open and US Open had changed his perception of what he thought he could accomplish over the remainder of his career.
Murray says that yes, he is more positive about what he is capable of doing in the Grand Slams now that he has earned his first Top 10 win in four years (over Alexander Zverev at Cincinnati) and also engineered his first comeback from two sets down since 2016 (vs. Nishioka at the US Open).
“I would say even after tonight, I would say I’m more positive about what I could do in Grand Slams than I was before I came over here,” Murray said in a virtual press conference. “I mean, you know, you guys obviously don’t know how I was feeling even just a couple of months ago.”
Murray, who played four hours and 39 minutes in his Day 2 win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, was unable to replicate the feat on Thursday against the rising Canadian. He didn’t manage a single break of serve and fell 6-2 6-3 6-4. But his body of work since he arrived in the US has him feeling hopeful about what he might achieve in the years to come.
Most important, the surgically repaired right hip passed with flying colors.
“I played a couple of tough matches in Cincinnati and I played certainly one very tough match here, and my right hip felt good,” he said. “That’s really, really positive. There are other things that need to get better, but I would say that I’m more positive now than what I was a couple of months ago, that’s for sure.”
Murray can’t quite picture himself winning Grand Slam titles anytime soon, he isn’t exactly ruling it out, either.
“In terms of winning Grand Slams again, that’s going to be extremely difficult to do,” he said. “It was hard enough when I had two normal hips. So it will be difficult, but I’ll keep trying, like, why not? Why shouldn’t I try my hardest to do that? And if I don’t, that’s all right. But I might as well shoot for the stars.
“I’m trying my best to get the most out of what my body gives me now.”
