The last time Andy Murray competed at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Championships in Rotterdam, he was strongly involved in the top five of the FedEx ATP Rankings and fought for titles every week. Now World No. 121 and following back from hip surgery 2019, Murray is just happy to fight on the court.
“I’m pumped back into competition again. Physically I feel good, and that’s the most important thing, ”said Murray. “Of course the next most important thing for me is to get games and get back to winning the Tour again. ”
Murray started his season in February at the Challenger ATP Tour event in Biella, Italy. The Scot was unable to travel to Australia in January because he tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately for Murray, it has been harder to get back mentally than physically.
“I would say [it was] more interesting to be honest than physical. It definitely has a small effect on your tennis because it came at the end of a long training block, ”said Murray. “I trained really hard for 10 weeks and I felt really good and then I wasn’t allowed to do anything. I wasn’t allowed out of the house … that obviously affects the physical side, but the mental side as well. ”
After his long training block, Murray was excited to compete in Australia and test his level. The 33-year-old was confident in how he felt on the court. But we couldn’t confirm it after you put in the hard work.
“I’ve lost a lot of big competitions in the last few years with injury and stuff and then that happened and I was really disappointed,” said Murray. “[It’s] still something I get over a bit from the frustration and mental side of things, but physically I feel good. ”
Murray will start his Rotterdam run against an experienced opponent of Dutch veteran Robin Haase, who led him 4-1 in their ATP Head2Head series. Their first meeting, won by Haase, took place in Rotterdam 13 years ago. But Murray doesn’t put much stock in there.
“It was 12 years ago when I won here and 13 years ago since I played Robin, so that today I will not be hindered by the game or the way you do in the competition or anything, ”Said Murray. “A lot has changed since then.”
You may also like: Twitch Murray Join Underarm Serve: ‘It’s completely legitimate’
One thing that hasn’t changed is that Murray enjoys playing at Rotterdam Ahoy, home of this week’s ATP 500 event.
“I really like it here. They have changed the whole arrangement. It’s a shame the fans aren’t here, but I think they’ve done a good job with the center court. They have put a lot of effort into creating a feeling, which is difficult at the moment without the fans, ”said Murray. “I think by considering the circumstances they have done a great job for the players and a big thank you to everyone involved.”
Murray does not go beyond his goals for the year and what results he wants to achieve. The Old World No. 1 concentrates all its energy on every game and hopes that steady progress will pay off.
“I want to try to get matches, but I just have to focus on the first one and try to get through that,” said Murray. “I’ve played Robin several times on Tour, we know each other very well. We’ve had tough games in big tournaments and he’s a talented guy with a big game. I focus on that and try to take it every day as it comes right now.
“When you haven’t played loads, you go into those games and it’s not like it was four, five years ago when you played five, six games a week and you used to that. I didn’t play much and I need to build my confidence and regain some gains. “