Andy Murray hints at quitting tennis after being booed by fans during Alex de Minaur Paris Masters defeat
Andy Murray imploded at the Paris Masters before casting doubt over his tennis future
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Andy Murray has cast doubt on his future in tennis after being booed during his defeat to Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters last night.
The Brit led 5-2 in the deciding set against his Australian opponent.
But Murray then imploded, with De Minaur roaring back to secure victory and send the tennis veteran out of the competition in the first round.
It was a difficult day at the office for the 36-year-old, who is clearly a shadow of the player he used to be.
Andy Murray smashed a tennis racket as he lost to Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters
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And Murray has hinted he could finally quit tennis in the wake of the agonising result, having been booed as he allowed his temper to boil over by smashing a racket.
“I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing,” he said.
“The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not much positivity there.
“When I play a good point, I’m not really getting behind myself and then in the important moments, that will to win and fight has always been quite a big, big part of my game.
“If I want to keep going, I’m going to need a lot of work.
“It’s not just going to be like one or two weeks of training to get me to where I need to get to, it’s going to have to be a lot of work and consistent work to give myself a chance.”
Murray actually won more points than his opponent.
But it seems he's getting further and further away from challenging for the sport's biggest honours.
Murray has done well just to grace the tennis court again given his injury issues in recent years.
Yet with the next generation starting to come through, while veterans such as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are still part of the tour, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the Brit announce his retirement in the foreseeable future.
On the match itself, Murray said: “I mean obviously right now, the way the match finished, it’s pretty disappointing.
“I didn’t play well. I didn’t play well for large parts of the match and found myself in a good position.
"You know, to be fair to him, he didn’t miss any returns, he gave me no free points and then I didn’t come up with enough good shots when it mattered.
"And then he started playing better.”
And, on his drastic collapse, he added: "I think that’s a first for me.
"Not sure, but I can’t remember finishing a match like that before.
“I don’t remember. I mean, it may have happened but I don’t remember.
Murray also admits that he feels he's not improving in the areas he needs to, with the 36-year-old extremely hard on himself.
“I'm still training hard, I'm practising hard, I'm doing all the work in the gym and everything," he confessed.
"I've just not been improving in the areas that I feel like I need to.
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“You play a three-hour match on a fast indoor court and I'm not really getting loads of free points on my serve.
"It's quite an important part of the game now. "Lots of the guys are serving big, getting a lot of free points and it used to be something I could rely on quite a lot.
"And I'm not doing that now.”