Murray ponders dropping out of ATP Tour in bid to lift his game
ANDY Murray is considering dropping down a level to further his singles comeback after suffering a first-round defeat at the Winston-Salem Open.
The former World No.1 went down 7- 6 (8) 7-5 to American Tennys Sandgren in a just his second singles match back since career-saving hip surgery in January.
Murray has already confirmed he will not play in the US Open, which starts in New York next week, and will now ponder the possibility of playing some games at the Challenger level — one below the ATP Tour — to get as many matches as he can.
Among several other tournaments, it means he could play at the Murray Trophy — a new addition to the calendar, named after the Scot and his brother Jamie.
It runs in Glasgow between September 16 and 22, a week before Murray is due in Asia to resume his ATP Tour schedule.
“I’m quite aware of sort of where I’m at just now and what my level is,” he said.
“It’s competitive at this level but it needs to be better. Maybe I need to play a level down to get some matches and build my game up a little bit before I start playing on the Tour again.”
Hundreds turned out to see Murray in North Carolina, with many sticking around after play was delayed for several hours due to rain.
Despite suffering another defeat, the 32-year-old was much improved from his comeback loss to Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati, so took the positives, which included feeling no pain in his hip after a gruelling match.
“Some things were a bit better today I think,” he added. “I was hitting the ball a bit cleaner than I did maybe in Cincinnati.
“I feel like I moved fairly well to some drop shots, which maybe last week I wasn’t running to.
“So there’s some good things in there but also some stuff I would like to do better.
“Physically, (I feel) OK considering. No pain, no discomfort, just a little bit more tired than usual.”