Murray Aiming For 'Robust' Finish To Season
Andy Murray feels he is ready to finish the season strongly as he looks to continue to improve his game and fitness, starting at the Moselle Open in Metz this week.
The Brit found his best level against World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round at the US Open last month, pushing the Greek to five sets. The 34-year-old is now keen to maintain his form for the rest of the season.
“I played a good match there [at the US Open] in terms of the level,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I didn’t get the outcome I wanted, but I played well so it is good to know that level of tennis is still there against the best players.
“You need to try to maintain that. I need to be playing matches and want to compete as much as I can between now and the end of the year. I won’t have a few weeks to prepare for each tournament, but it will be more like a few days. But that is the challenge. I have to do my best in these next couple of months.”
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Murray has competed in seven tour-level events this season, but has played in four tournaments in the past month at all levels, including an ATP Challenger Tour event in Rennes last week as he tries to build up his consistency.
“I want to be winning matches but just build up some robustness and get my body used to competing again on a regular basis,” Murray said. “If I win four or five matches in a week, then I might have to take a break the following week, but that hasn’t been the case the last few tournaments, so while I am feeling good physically, I just want to try and play.”
The former World No. 1, who is making his second appearance in Metz, having reached the final in 2007 (l. to Robredo), will begin his campaign in northern France against home favourite Ugo Humbert.
Murray is impressed with the sixth-seeded Frenchman’s game and expects a difficult test tomorrow as he continues to adjust to the conditions following the North American hard-court swing.
“We played once a couple of years ago in Antwerp and I thought back then he was a very good player and would go onto compete at the top of the game,” Murray said. “He is serving well, he strikes the ball very cleanly and is a very good player.
“It is different going back to playing indoors again, different conditions in comparison to playing three or four weeks in a row on the outdoor hard courts. That is the challenge I guess.”