Andy Murray casts doubt on Wimbledon return after second-round exit

Jul 08, 2023

Andy Murray has cast doubt on whether he will return to Wimbledon next year after his five-set defeat to fifth seed Stefanos Tsitspias in the second round.

The Scot said he doesn’t “plan to stop” but admitted Friday’s defeat “will take a little while to get over”.

“Motivation is obviously a big thing. Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this don’t necessarily help with that,” Murray said during his press conference.

“It’s similar to, I guess, last year. I had a long think about things, spoke to my family, decided to keep on going.

“I don’t plan to stop right now. But this one will take a little while to get over. Hopefully [I’ll] find the motivation again to keep training, keep pushing, try and keep getting better.”

Murray had skipped the French Open to prepare for his 15th Wimbledon. He won the tournament in 2013 and 2016.

The 36-year-old was two sets to one up on Thursday night when play was stopped due to the 11pm curfew.

But the Greek player fought back to win 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (2-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.

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Tsitspias paid tribute to Murray, saying: “It’s never easy against Andy. It was a very difficult game, I’m very impressed with the way he holds up having been so many years on the tour, having had two hip surgeries.

“I was very impressed with his level and I wish him the best.”

He added: “I looked up to him, Novak [Djokovic], Roger [Federer], and Rafa [Nadal]. These four guys shaped the game, and they’re the reason I’m the player I am today.”

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British number one Cameron Norrie also lost his second-round match to American player Christopher Eubanks.

Norrie, seeded 13th in the world and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year, lost to the world number 43 in a 6-3 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-3) defeat.

Liam Broady, the British number five seed, was beaten in the third round by Canadian Denis Shapovalov, leaving Katie Boulter as the last British player standing in the singles draw.

She plays defending Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina for a place in the fourth round scheduled for Centre Court on Saturday.

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