USA Today via Reuters
Aug 30, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Andy Murray of Great Britain after a 5th set miss to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on day one of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
USA Today via Reuters
Aug 30, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Andy Murray of Great Britain after a 5th set miss to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on day one of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
The former World No. 1, Andy Murray, crashed out of the Moselle Open in Metz in the quarter-final, losing to Hubert Hurkacz. In the post-match interview, Murray expressed his frustration as well as spoke about the obsession with Top 100 rankings.
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No obsession with top 100 rankings
Hubert Hurkacz of Poland beat the three-time grand slam champion in the last eight of the Moselle Open in France. After having an impressive two matches, Murray fell short against the Polish star, losing 7-6, 6-3. Interestingly, Hubert Hurkacz beat Murray with the same score at Cincinnati Masters this year.
USA Today via Reuters
Aug 30, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts after a miss to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece (not pictured) on day one of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
In the post-match interview, the former World No.1 looked disappointed and frustrated. According to Andy Murray, he played far better in this match compared to the one at the Cincinnati Open. He also spoke about his aim.
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Andy Murray said, “I’m not making the top 100 a goal in and of itself. If I had to motivate myself with the ranking, I would aim for the top 10. Being at the top of the ranking, yes it is a motivation. But not the top 100. I don’t know why some make it such a big brand. Okay, that opens up the Grand Slam tables. But it doesn’t work for the Masters 1000 and many other tournaments. Top 60, top 50 that offers many more possibilities.” (translated from French to English by Google Translate)
The Brit clearly stated that aiming for a position in the top 10 motivates him. For that, he will have to keep winning matches and making deep runs. However, that has not been happening for a while now.
Andy Murray at US Open 2021
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After a third-round exit at Wimbledon 2021, Andy Murray came to the Flushing Meadows with a positive approach. His first match was scheduled against World No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas. Murray emphatically won two sets against the Greek star. However, the fifth set went in Tsitsipas’ favor. The final score recorded was 6-2, 6-7,6-3, 3-6, 4-6 in the favor of Greek.
Given his run of results, can Murray accomplish his aim?
