Andy Murray cut short a disappointing spell on the Asian swing of the ATP Tour, but the Scot is ready to step back on court in a bid to end his challenging year on a high.
Murray withdrew from this week’s Japan Open in Tokyo earlier this month due to injury, as his miserable trip to China concluded with a 6-3 6-2 first-round defeat against Roman Safiullin in Shanghai.
The manner of that defeat set alarm bells ringing for Murray, who was also beaten by Alex De Minaur in a more closely contested contest at the China Open.
Those defeats came on the back of Murray’s disappointing US Open exit against Grigor Dimitrov, even though the Bulgarian has since emerged as one of the form players on the ATP Tour following his run to the semi-final of the Shanghai Masters last week.
It was after the Dimitrov match that Murray expressed his doubts over whether he could compete at the highest level as he continues to battle on with a metal hip.
“I still enjoy everything that goes into playing at a high level,” he said in New York.
“I enjoy the work. The training and trying to improve and trying to get better, I do still enjoy that. And that’s what keeps me going.
“If things change and I stop enjoying that or my results, my ranking and everything; like, if I start to go backwards in that respect and in a few months’ time I was ranked 60 in the world or whatever instead of moving up, things might change.”
Amid his pessimism, Murray could have opted to return to a low-level event as he looks to pick up some ranking points to close out 2023, but he is on the entry list for the ATP 500 event that gets underway in Basel on October 23rd.
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World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz has confirmed he will compete in the event that is staged in the city where Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer was born.
The Basel tournament is set to attract a high-quality field, with Holger Rune, Caper Ruud and Taylor Fritz joining Alcaraz as top ten players who have confirmed their intention to play.
Shanghai Masters winner Hubert Hurkacz, the dangerous De Minaur, in-form Sebastian Korda and local favourite Stan Wawrinka are also confirmed on the entry list for Basel.
Murray will not be seeded and that means there is a good chance he will draw one of the names listed, with his record against players ranked ahead of him poor in 2023.
The two-time Wimbledon champion has failed to beat a top-ten opponent this year, with his best rankings win coming against Matteo Berrettini, who was ranked at No 13 at the time, in the Australian Open in January.
His next biggest win by ranking came against Alexander Zverev in Doha in February when the German was getting back to his best after an extended spell away from tennis following a serious ankle injury.
Murray also had a win against America’s Tommy Paul to win a clay court Challenger title in France in May and while he has pressed some of the big names in the men’s game at times, the wins he crave have not been forthcoming.
Ahead of the winter break that will come for Murray after he plays his part in Great Britain’s Davis Cup team in the Finals in Malaga next month, he will want to see some tangible evidence of progress as he looks ahead to 2024.
As he has often suggested, his retirement from tennis is likely to come without warning and he will want to see some wins added to his record before this year is finished.
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