Andy Murray delivers damning verdict on his tennis after Moselle Open exit

Andy Murray and Ash Barty pay tribute to each other

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Andy Murray has revealed his lofty ambitions following his loss at the Moselle Open. The current world No 113 made it to his first quarter-final in 23 months before losing to top seed Hubert Hurkacz at the ATP 250 in Metz, though a victory would have secured him a place back inside the world’s top 100. Although his game continues to improve, the three-time Grand Slam champion reiterated his stance from earlier in the week, admitting he wasn’t “interested” in playing well if he was still losing.

Murray had his best showing at an ATP Tour-level event in almost two years at this week’s Moselle Open, making the quarter-finals.

The former world No 1 was able to score an impressive comeback win over sixth seed and home favourite Ugo Humbert in the first round, before dispatching world No 66 Vasek Pospisil in straight sets to make his first quarter-final since October 2019, when he won the ATP 250 in Antwerp.

It was also the second time in just over a month that he faced Miami Open champion and Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz.

Althought he remained competitive throughout the match, the 34-year-old lost to the Pole once again, with the contest following the exact same scoreline as their second-round clash at the Cincinnati Masters last month.

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Hurkacz overcame the Brit 7-6(4) 6-3 once again to book his place in the semi-finals, and though Murray was able to get some more wins under his belt, he admitted his sights were set much higher.

“I think I played better this week than I did in Cincinnati and in Winston Salem,” he said after the match, before repeating a statement he made in press earlier this week following his victory over Humbert.

“I did play a pretty good match at the US Open. But like I said the other day, I’m not that interested in playing well and losing.”

The 46-time title winner had previously opened up on his desire to record more victories and reach 700 match wins for his career.

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Although Murray was able to stay with Hurkacz for most of the match, even creating break point chances as the world No 13 served for the match before ultimately losing, he admitted he still wasn’t happy without being able to get the win.

He continued: “I want to be winning these matches and I’ve certainly created enough opportunities to not necessarily win all of them, but to make it closer than what it has been and give myself a better chance of winning. So, yeah, I’m disappointed with that.”

The Brit is likely to rise to around No 109 in the world following his week in Metz, but would have re-entered the top 100 with a victory over the 24-year-old.

Although he was unable to reach the milestone in the rankings once again, the former world No 1 admitted that his goal was far higher, and looked down on the thought of the top 100 being a significant achievement.

“My goal is not to get back in the top 100,” he admitted.

“I want to get back into the top 10 – [that] would be more something that would motivate me in terms of the goal.

“Winning tournaments and getting up towards the top of the rankings is motivating to me.

“The top 100, it doesn’t. It’s this weird thing – I don’t know why it’s considered such a huge milestone.”

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