Andy Murray rages at himself in Stuttgart final vs Matteo Berrettini – So unnecessary

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Andy Murray launched into an extended self-deprecating rant at himself after dropping the first set in his Stuttgart Open final against Matteo Berrettini on Sunday afternoon. The Scot was taking part in his first grass-court final since his most recent Wimbledon victory back in 2016 and was tested by Berrettini from the word go at the Tennis Club Weissenhof.

Murray was unable to stop himself from losing the opening set of the match, with Berrettini showing his mettle against the 35-year-old to draw first blood in Stuttgart. The man from Dunblane was less than impressed with his own performance and chose to vent his frustrations by way of an on-court tirade prior to the start of the next set.

“What are you trying to do on the ball mate? You’re trying to do so much it’s so unnecessary,” said Murray to himself. “You’re just thinking about the ball coming at 5,000 miles an hour through the court and it’s not.”

Murray went on to recover well by clinching the second set to draw level with Berrettini, who beat him at Queens’ Club in their only previous meeting back in 2021. A tiebreak was needed to settle the scores before Murray emerged victorious to revive his hopes of Stuttgart Open glory by forcing a decisive third set.

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The Brit has enjoyed a very successful career at the highest levels of the sport, claiming three Grand Slam titles and two Olympic gold medals over the course of his time on the Tour. However, questions have been raised over his longevity after suffering from no shortage of injury problems and undergoing multiple surgeries in recent years.

He appears to be determined to keep fighting back, though, and will have been encouraged by his run to the final in Stuttgart as he ramps up his preparations to compete at Wimbledon later this month. Tennis legend Mats Wilander recently suggested that Murray will keep playing with the aim of winning titles until he begins to lose his motivation, a milestone which appears to be some way off at present.

“Andy Murray is going to retire the day he walks on the court and plays for 10 minutes and realises: ‘I actually don’t give a s**t how this match ends, or how it looks,'” Wilander told Tennishead.

“And he’s not going to retire that day because he’s going to finish the match. But he’s going to retire very shortly after the first time that he feels that he’s careless about trying to give himself the best chance to play his best tennis and make his opponent the worst possible.”

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