ANDY NEEDS A QUICK FIX
TENNIS MORE MURRAY MISERY Madrid defeat worries world No.1
ANDY MURRAY admits he’s concerned about the state of his game and needs to find a solution fast.
The world No.1 lost a miserable match 6-3 6-3 to Croatian kid Borna Coric yesterday in the third round of the Madrid Open.
Murray’s second serve, the vastly improved shot that helped push him to the top of the rankings last year, was looking ragged while his forehand had a mind of its own.
The errors came thick and fast and 20-year-old world No.59 Coric, a young gun tipped for greatness, made the most of them to advance to a clash with Dominic Thiem.
Murray said: “Most things weren’t working particularly well. It wasn’t great.
“I started the match okay but when I started to go behind I didn’t find any way to improve my game or make it more difficult for him.
“I just kind of let the same things keep happening, making mistakes early in a lot of the rallies. I wasn’t building any points really. I didn’t help myself find a way into the match to start playing better.
“That was disappointing because you’re not always going to play your best but you can still find ways to make it difficult for your opponent. And I didn’t do that at all.
“It wasn’t until almost the last game where I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to try’ and I stood way back behind the baseline.”
For a man who has built a career around hating to lose, this lack of competitive fire was a serious worry.
As his frustrations built, Murray screamed at his box, he laughed at his box and he ignored his box – and throughout it all he made more unforced errors and let the match slip away.
He said: “It was more frustration at my game. The fact I kept doing the same things, the same mistakes repeatedly.
“I should have tried to do more about that and I didn’t. That’s the most disappointing thing for me.”
The big task now is to work out why yesterday’s performance was so lacklustre – and time is running out for the Scot to find a solution.
Next week he’ll play at the Italian Open in Rome, his last event to put things right before the French Open.
Murray added: “I definitely think I need to be concerned.
“It’s not always the worst thing losing a match but sometimes the manner of how you lose can be concerning or disappointing.
“Things can turn around quickly in tennis. But you need to have the right sort of ideas to understand why you’re in the position you’re in.
“Hopefully I can do that with my team and play better in Rome and Roland Garros.”