Andy Murray is not overreacting to a first-round exit Tuesday at the Cinch Championships. The 36-year-old is instead considering how well he has competed the past month, in which he has claimed two ATP Challenger Tour titles on grass.
The former World No. 1 was unable to extend his winning run in west London, with Alex de Minaur ousting the record five-time Queen’s Club champion 6-3, 6-1. Despite the defeat, Murray is choosing to draw on the positives.
“Obviously after today, it’s easy to overreact. I lost to a good player and it was obviously very comfortable,” Murray said in his post-match press conference. “But at the same time, over the past couple of weeks, yes, it’s obviously not the same level of opponents, but I won the [Nottingham Challenger] last week without dropping a set.
“I only lost one set in Surbiton. Was holding serve very comfortably. Was moving well, hitting the ball well. There are a lot of positive signs there.”
World No. 38 Murray will next head to the All England Club, where he will be celebrating the 10th anniversary since his first Wimbledon. Murray also triumphed at the season’s third major in 2016. The 46-time tour-level titlist will enjoy some downtime before playing his home Slam.
“Just recharge a little bit, and then go to work on my game,” Murray said. “I don’t want to overanalyse. Today [there are] definitely some things I can do better, but at the same time, I have done lots of good things over the last couple of weeks as well. I want to keep going in that direction.
“Keep serving well, keep working on my movement. That was something we spent a lot of time working on before Surbiton and Nottingham, and it’s really crucial for me that I’m moving well. So [I will] definitely spend a lot of time working on that.”
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Murray arrived at the Queen’s Club with a chance to be seeded at Wimbledon, depending on his results at the ATP 500 event. The Scot was asked if that thought was in his mind while in action against De Minaur. Murray stated he has known about his seeding chances for several weeks and the possibility did not affect his play Tuesday.
“I knew I was pretty much either going to have to make a final here if I didn’t do well in Surbiton and Nottingham, or if I won both of those events, it was looking like at least a quarter-final to do it,” Murray said. “I was aware of that before all of the matches that I played the past few weeks.”