Andy Murray ‘still going in the right direction’ as he targets progress in 2023 | Tennis News
Andy Murray says he is still heading in the direction he wishes to as he looks to stay busy throughout the upcoming 2023 season.
The former world No 1 reached ATP finals in both Sydney and Stuttgart, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios on his way to the latter, and recorded 26 victories to 19 losses before finishing the year ranked No 49 having entered 2022 down in No 135.
Murray’s best performance at a major came at the US Open when he was halted by Matteo Berrettini in the round of 32 after second-round exits at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
While his campaign ended titleless, his activity did serve up encouragement amid the constant focus on his fitness since hip resurfacing surgery in 2019.
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Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were reunited on court in a practice session ahead of the Laver Cup
“When you’ve been at the top of the game and got to No. 1, that’s always where your reference point is in terms of how you’re doing,” Murray told the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.
“So in that respect, it’s been pretty average, but at the beginning of the year I was ranked No 135 in the world and now I’m in the 40s. That’s a big jump, so it’s been OK this year. So for a lot of players that would be really positive.”
“I would like to have done better, and I don’t feel like I have played my best tennis this year. It’s been ok this year. Hopefully, next year I can keep progressing.”
Murray in action against Russia’s Roman Safiullin during their first-round match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in October
Murray added that he plans to head back to Florida with his team during the off-season in preparation for the new season.
Last month the 35-year-old outlined a busy schedule beginning with a tournament in Australia ahead of the Melbourne major before aiming to return to the clay having missed the French Open last season.
“I just want to keep progressing,” he said. “Like this year I have progressed a lot from where I was, if things obviously start to go backwards then you know, if performances don’t improve or physically you know, I’m struggling then you know, I have to look at things but I’m still kind of going in the direction that I want to be, got plans to have a good year next year.”
