Andy Murray says ‘hurt’ of loss ‘on par’ with US Open and Wimbledon exits last year
Andy Murray took his loss to John Isner really hard while in press on Wednesday evening, but for wholly different reasons compared to Wimbledon 12 months ago.
The three-time Major champion looked to complete a comeback after going two sets down to the 2018 semi-finalist, but only managed the one set to lose 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 4-6 in the final match of the day on Centre Court.
He then came to the media centre almost immediately, with the vast majority of reporters only turning up once his name was announced given the lack of delay.
Many questions revolved around comparing the loss to his exit in the third round of Wimbledon 2021, a feeling that was frustrating for very different reasons.
He said: ‘[Last year] I didn’t feel like my game was in a position to do well.
“Whereas this year my game was certainly in a better place.
“Physically I felt good, barring the sort of 10 days post-Stuttgart, which was, like I said, frustrating.”
Murray came into SW19 this year off some great form in Stuttgart before being forced to miss Queen’s with an ab injury.
That injury prevented him from practising his serve for a number of days, something he implied was an issue on Wednesday.
He said: “The serve and return are the two most important shots in the game.
“I was not able to serve for essentially 10 days off the back of Stuttgart.”
Finally, given his demeanour and the weight of the loss on him, Murray was asked when the last time he felt this way about a defeat.
After a pause to consider, he revealed: “I was pretty angry after the US Open last year, after that match [losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas].
“Probably more so than I am just now.
“[Today] definitely, definitely hurts.
“But US Open last year was certainly on a par with this if not worse.”
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