Google News
Former British tennis No. 1 Greg Rusedski thought Andy Murray's defeat to Dominik Koepfer was "disappointing" and something that Murray didn't need this late in the season. Murray, now ranked at No. 144 in the world, blew seven match points in his Paris Masters opener as Dominik Koepfer beat the Briton 6-4 5-7 7-6 (9).
Murray has had two major hip surgeries since 2017 and since then he hasn't been the same player. "It gets harder every single year, because this project has been going on for four years and the signs were looking really good from the US Open all the way until Paris, but his defeat to Dominik Koepfer was a little bit disappointing to be honest," Rusedski told Sky Sports.
"Physically his body really didn't warm up for the first set and a bit. When his opponent served for the match at 5-4, he wasn't moving well, he wasn't striking the ball well. And he had seven match points and couldn't find a way through that match so I think it's going to be a hard road back to where he wants to."
Rusedski acknowledged Murray faces a tough task
Murray received a total of 14 wild cards this season and his season has been marked by early exits at ATP events.
"He says 'I'm not going to be happy losing in second and third rounds' The problem he's going to have is he's not going to be seeded at these events, he's 144 in the world and to get his ranking up he's going to have to beat two or three top 10 players back to back, especially in these Masters Series events," Rusedski added.
"I commend him for all the hard work he's putting in but he must be extremely frustrated because he's not getting the results he wants out there even though his tennis is getting better."