Why Andy Murray should (and will) keep playing after a bitter loss at Wimbledon

Andy Murray waves to the crowd after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas, but it's unlikely to be a goodbye. Photo: Getty Images/Shaun Botterill < p>Some defeats you don't notice. Other pieces of ice fall into the soul. And Andy Murray's loss in the second round to Stefanos Tsitsipas was disgusting for him.

After that, Murray was inconsolable in the interrogation room. When one of the interlocutors told him that he was robbed because of the wrong phone call at a crucial moment, he looked for a moment as if he was about to burst into tears.

That single refereeing mistake — a brilliant backhand that was erroneously labeled «out» — could have a huge impact on British tennis. It is possible that this simultaneously provoked two seismic moments: the introduction of automatic calling on the line at Wimbledon and the date of Murray's retirement. Because it was a real punch in the gut for the greatest British player.

Murray can't hide his emotions during the press conference after losing to Tsitsipas. Photo: Getty Images/Joe Toth

Put yourself in Murray's size 14c. Now, in his 19th season on the road, he is forcing himself to go through the most brutal regime to stay competitive with generations to come. Although he gradually returned to the top 40 in the world, he lived off scraps, like a traveler with disheveled hair in the most inhospitable area.

What he really wanted was payback. The moment when all the hard work seems worth it. The day the heavens opened up and filled his flask of water. He was so painfully close to Tsitipas that he was only six points away from meeting Laszlo Jere in the third round. However, in the end it came to nothing. Now it must seem to him that he is again digging the beds of dried up rivers and preparing food from beetles.

«I don't know,» Murray said when asked if he plans to return to Wimbledon next year. “Motivation is definitely an important thing. Losing in tournaments like this doesn't necessarily help.

So, that's it? Could this bitter harvest represent Murray's last act on Center Court? Let's hope not, because the failure of any British male to reach the second week shows that we still need him. That British interests continue to depend on a 36-year-old with a metal thigh is a terrible indictment of the Lawn Tennis Association's vaunted development policy.

Center court is up for one of their favorite champions 👏

Thanks for another classic match, @andy_murray.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/2SMMxz1hmg

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2023

My personal hunch is that after a couple of days of soul-searching, Murray will take a breath, get off the couch and get back to work. This is a man who knows no other way.

Yes, he took a big hit to his psyche on Friday night. But his entire program has long been designed to last at least one more season — and maybe more.

From the first weeks of 2023, Murray's representatives have been working on an optimal schedule for the whole year. Then, during last month's French Open, Telegraph Sport reported the appointment of pairs specialist Johnny O'Mara as assistant coach in a deal of 25 to 30 weeks a year, which equates to 12 months of competition. These are not agreements you make when you plan to leave.

Murray hit a similar emotional bottom in 2022, after an equally heartbreaking loss to John Isner in the same stage — the second round — of Wimbledon. As he said on Friday: “I thought about things for a long time, talked to my family, decided to continue. I don't plan to stop right now. But, yes, it will take some time to get through. I hope [I] find motivation again to keep training, keep working, keep trying and keep getting better.”

What is surprising is that Murray is still improving his game at this late stage in his career. At the start of this grass court season, he stumbled upon a new and simplified way to start his pitching. The result has been greater pace and accuracy, with a 97 percent win rate in serve games placing him in fifth place in the standings at the time of this writing.

He may be a bionic athlete now — tennis's answer to the Six Million Dollar Man — but on Thursday night Murray MkII looked almost indistinguishable from the champion who had played on these courts in the middle of the last decade.

Even against him. Tsitsipas, a phenomenal athlete in great shape, Murray held the match in the palm of his hand twice: first when Tsitsipas began to mentally explode on Thursday night, and then when he was on the verge of a service break at 4-4 in the fourth set.

Fate worked against him twice — first because of the suspension of the game due to Thursday's curfew, and secondly because of that ill-fated call that deprived him of two break points. When you play on grass — the surface where the servers still rule — tiny pitches decide the matches.

The difficulty for Murray is that the grass court window is very short. He has just six weeks of the year to cash in on his cat-like moves and unrivaled cut play, skills that have earned him 81 percent of wins on turf, as opposed to 75 percent on hard courts and 69 percent on clay. .

And then again on a world tour. To say goodbye to her four children and move on to another anonymous, albeit richly furnished, hotel room. It's good that he has always enjoyed life on the road.

While preparing for this year's Wimbledon, Murray admitted for the first time that he had a finish date in mind. He said that after playing a couple of epic five-set sets in Australia in January, he realized that «it might not be that good for me in the long run.»

But insiders suggest that he mentally not yet ready to start the last round. And whenever he talks to former players, they urge him to keep playing as long as possible, because nothing can replace the excitement of a prime time match in a big stadium.

I still feel like Murray has at least one more deep victory over him. We can only hope that the same faith still burns deep in his own heart, even after Friday's unfortunate series of events.