Andy Murray suffers lack of motivation after early Wimbledon exit

Tennis star Andy Murray suffered another early exit at Wimbledon this year, and he has admitted that he feels "unbelievably disappointed and upset." He also said that right now, he can't say if he will be back next year because he is currently struggling to find the motivation to continue.

The devastation is completely understandable considering the massive buildup to the tournament and the manner by which Murray ended up getting eliminated. His second round match against Tsitsipas was played over two days after they got caught out by the 11:00 pm curfew on Thursday night.

When the match was initially suspended, Murray was two sets to one up and looked to be in control of the match even though the 24-year-old Greek player won the first set. Hopes were high that he would be able to make it to the finish line, but Tsitsipas was able to force a decider through a hard-fought fourth set victory via tiebreak. Then, a visibly tired Murray was unable to fight back in the final set and Tsitsipas closed out the match at 6-7(3-7), 7-6(7-2), 6-4, 6-7(3-7), 4-6.

Needless to say, the match was very tight and it could have gone either way, which was perhaps why the disappointment is even more pronounced after Murray lost. It has been ten years since the 36-year old won his first Wimbledon title, and he had been hoping to go deep into the tournament this year for the first time since having career-saving hip resurfacing surgery in 2019.

He faced the press after the defeat and admitted that he isn't sure if he will try again next year. "I don't know. Motivation is obviously a big thing. Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this doesn't necessarily help with that," he said, as quoted by the BBC.

Despite obviously making impressive strides since his surgery, no one can blame Murray for feeling completely dejected at another second-round exit. Back in 2021, his first Wimbledon tournament since the surgery, he managed to get to the third round where he was eliminated by Denis Shapovalov.

Last year, he suffered his earliest Wimbledon exit in the second round against John Isner. Unfortunately, he was not able to improve on that finish this year, after crashing out in the second round yet again.

"Losing in the second round, I don't find that motivating, it's not why I put all of the work in. It's similar to last year, I guess. I had a long think about things, spoke to my family, and decided to keep on going," he said, before adding that he will need a few days to process the disappointment before thinking about what he will do moving forward.

Murray's road to Wimbledon this year played a key role in the final disappointing outcome. The fact that he was unable to secure a seeding meant that he ended up facing fifth-seed Tsitsipas very early in the draw.

He made the decision to skip the French Open to focus on the tournaments that were played on grass surfaces. By giving up on the clay season, he put in every possible effort to prepare for Wimbledon.

Last month, he won two titles in the ATP Challenger Tour, which is a tier below the main ATP tour. He gained confidence and ranking points with trophies at Surbiton and Nottingham, but he was slapped back to reality with an early defeat against Alex de Minaur at Queen's when he stepped back up to the main tour.

That loss also denied him a seeding at Wimbledon, putting him on the side of the draw that will be pitted against the highest-ranked players at the onset. He did manage an easy victory in the first round against fellow unseeded player Ryan Peniston, but facing the fifth seed in the second round was as far as he could go.

He did show moments of brilliance, forcing Tsitsipas into tiebreaks on three of the five sets. The much younger player also had to be at his best to beat the older man with the metal hip. The close nature of the game showed Murray exactly how good he still is, and the narrow loss made it sting all that much harder.

"There was only a few points in it," he said, before adding that even though things looked promising, he knows that he needs to be able to consistently step up against the best players. "It's not just about winning the odd match against them really. To have a run at these tournaments, you need multiple, multiple wins in a row. I've not done that," he reflected.

Murray previously said that he is prepared for the possibility of having to retire suddenly if he is hit with another major injury. For now, he is at least able to make plans about his future on his own terms and is not being forced into a decision by an injury setback.