Andy Murray feels Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic still being able to move extremely well is one of the big reasons why they are still extremely successful in the game. Murray, 35, has had two major hip surgeries since 2018.
Murray refused to quit after sustaining a major hip issue, but his movement has been impacted greatly as physically he is clearly not the player he once was. On the other side, 36-year-old Nadal and Djokovic, 35, are still a strong force in the game and winning Grand Slams.
“I think if you watch Rafa and Novak moving around the court now, who are similar age, I think they’re moving pretty similar to how they were five, six years ago, whereas for me there’s obviously been a bit of a drop-off there,” Murray said.
Murray admits the hip injury left a long-lasting effect
“That can affect you in terms of how you have to play the points. Maybe you just don’t track as many balls down as before. Maybe the reach isn’t just quite as much as it was,” Murray said.
Meanwhile, Murray exited the US Open following a third round defeat to Matteo Berrettini. On Friday, Berrettini defeated Murray 6-4 6-4 6-7 (1) 6-3 to progress into the US Open round-of-16. After the loss, Murray identified the poor service as the big reason behind his loss.
During the match, Berrettini created 15 break points and broke Murray five times. “I served pretty poorly for a large part of the match, which hurt me a lot,” Murray reflected. “I mean, it’s always tough down one end at that time of day.
So from one end probably understandable, but, you know, I just couldn’t find any rhythm on serve. He served extremely well, got loads of free points on his serve. I didn’t. That was the difference.” Murray was playing a Grand Slam third round for the first time this season.
