Andy Murray has confirmed his body feels “pretty good” despite limping through the second of his three matches at the US Hall of Fame Open. The Brit entered the ATP 250 tournament after a disappointing Wimbledon campaign ended in the second round.
Murray meant business from the start and beat American Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-0 in his first match of the tournament.
But Australian doubles champion Max Purcell provided a much sterner test in the second round. Murray had to come from a set down to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
After that match, the 35-year-old was spotted limping off the pitch, sparking concerns of another injury.
However, the three-time Grand Slam champion explained that his fitness is fine after losing 7-5, 6-4 to Aleksandar Bublik in the quarter-finals on Friday night.
“Obviously I just want the results to be a little bit better. I felt like I had a good chance [advancing] here,” he said.
“If I had gone through Bublik, it would have been a good opportunity potentially in the semi-finals.
“But… it’s important to me that my body feels pretty good and that I have a lot of games.”
Murray had an impressive campaign on grass in the build-up to Wimbledon as he reached the semi-finals of the Surbiton Trophy and lost to Matteo Berrettini in the final of the Stuttgart Open.
“In the whole season on the lawn, there were good moments, but also difficult ones,” he reflected.
“Today’s match and the loss at Wimbledon was disappointing and frustrating for me, but then in Stuttgart I also had my best wins in a while.
“So a bit up and down, but a bit of progress overall and I’ll try to continue that through the summer on hard surfaces.”
He added: “[I want] to continue to improve. If I keep seeing progress, I’ll keep playing.”
Murray met with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins before the Bublik showdown.
“I’ve never met an NFL athlete before, but he seemed to love his tennis, and he said he felt a lot of the moves you make in tennis are similar to quarterbacking,” he explained.
“He would rather do an hour of tennis than an hour of agility drills, which I can understand as you get a bit older, it’s important to try and keep things fresh and fun in pre-season training.”
“But… it’s important to me that my body feels pretty good and that I have a lot of games.”
Murray had an impressive campaign on grass in the build-up to Wimbledon as he reached the semi-finals of the Surbiton Trophy and lost to Matteo Berrettini in the final of the Stuttgart Open.
“In the whole season on the lawn, there were good moments, but also difficult ones,” he reflected.
“Today’s match and the loss at Wimbledon was disappointing and frustrating for me, but then in Stuttgart I also had my best wins in a while.
“So a bit up and down, but a bit of progress overall and I’ll try to continue that through the summer on hard surfaces.”
