Andy Murray shares 2023 goals as he confesses he almost ‘quit tennis’

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Andy Murray has shared his aims for the 2023 season after confessing that he had been on the “verge of never playing tennis again”. The world No 49 has enjoyed his best season in six years as he picked up his 26th win of 2022 at the Swiss Indoors on Monday – his most in a single year since his incredible 2016 season.

Murray is playing his penultimate tournament of the season in Basel this week, where he is through to the second round after battling past qualifier Roman Safiullin on Tuesday, coming from a set down and winning the last five games in a row from 1-4 down to book his spot in round two.

With the victory, the three-time Major champion earned his most wins in a single season since 2016 – the year he won his second Wimbledon crown, second Olympic gold medal and ascended to world No 1. But the Brit is already looking ahead to next season as he aims to continue climbing back up the rankings to earn himself a top 32 seeded spot at the four Grand Slams.

“Look, I know I was on the verge of never playing tennis again, but when I started to get into a rhythm I realised that it was possible,” he told Watson.ch, discussing his ability to be competitive near the top of tennis again. “I have to be very careful with the way and the time of training.”

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While the 46-time title winner was happy with his 2022 season overall, he was still his biggest critic as always, as he admitted he wanted to be more consistent despite earning some huge wins. Murray continued: “I think that this season it has been positive because I have been able to play almost without injuries. It made me very angry to have an abdominal problem just before Wimbledon and I know that I am still at a good level.

“I have beaten very good players in recent times, such as Alcaraz, Hurkacz, Berrettini, Tsitsipas or Kyrgios. When that happens it’s because you have what it takes to be up, but I need to be more consistent, I would have liked my tennis to be better this year.”

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And despite admitting he almost quit tennis, it appears that retirement is no longer on the horizon for Murray as he was already setting his sights on improving in 2023. “I want to think that I can continue to be competitive and that I just need to select my tournaments better to be more consistent,” he said.

“My main objective right now is to improve my ranking to be the top seed and not have to face great tennis players from the first round. This week at the ATP 500 Basel is very important to me because it can improve my ranking.”

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