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Andy Murray admits he has to do “exceptional things” to still compete on the ATP Tour with cramp and a dip in form ending the season on a sombre note for the former world No 1.
The Scot was stunned by Gilles Simon in the first round of the Paris Masters on Monday, 4-6 7-5 6-3, putting an end to his season.
Murray suffered from cramp in the second set, which left the former world No 1 baffled, despite the 35-year-old having suffered from the mystery issue before the US Open.
Maybe one of the mistakes that I made was like playing Newport. I could have done a training block there to get in the heat and prepare better for the summer
Murray admitted it was “concerning” sweat testing provided no conclusive answers to the problem which reoccurred on the Accor Arena court in Bercy, with the three-time Grand Slam champion refusing to blame his hip.
“Having that happen after a set and a half on an indoor court where it’s not particularly hot is not really acceptable,” Murray, who has struggled to regain top form since undergoing two hip surgeries, said.
“It’s nothing to do with my hip. I just think the reality is I need to work harder. Obviously, there’s certain things I can and can’t do nowadays, I need to be a bit more careful with some of the training that I do.
“But I can certainly do more than what I have done and push myself harder than what I have done recently. What I’m trying to do is extremely hard. I need to do exceptional things to still compete.”
Murray has risen to No 48 from 134th in the rankings this year and reached the finals in Sydney and Stuttgart in the first half of the season.
He said his dip in form in recent months could have been avoided by opting for a dedicated training stint instead of playing in Newport, Rhode Island immediately after Wimbledon.
“If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think the last four or five months that that’s necessarily been happening, since the issue sort of started in Newport, Washington time,” Murray said.
“Maybe one of the mistakes that I made was like playing Newport. I could have done a training block there to get in the heat and prepare better for the summer.”
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