Andy Murray asserts that sport is a ‘results business’

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray has categorically stated that when it comes to sports, it’s all about the results. On the back of a disappointing straight-set defeat against second seed Diego Schwartzman at the European Open on Thursday, the Scot explained how important it is to win when one is not playing at their best. Schwartzman registered a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 victory over Murray to reach the quarter-finals of the European Open in Antwerp. The 29-year-old, who reached back-to-back finals in Antwerp in 2016 and 2017, rallied from 1-4 down in the first set, before advancing in two hours and 15 minutes.

“Sport is a results business. If you play well or poorly, it doesn’t really matter if you lose the matches,” Murray was quoted as saying by the atptour.com. “You need to be winning and winning matches maybe when you’re not playing your best, which I have done a few times these past few months, but certainly not as many as I would have liked. That’s obviously what I want [in] the last few tournaments [of the season].”

Murray also felt that he has to improve his decision-making. “I think at times being a bit more solid in the important moments and just getting the balance right about how I’m trying to play,” Murray said. 

“Today for example, I feel like I moved to the net way too often and it wasn’t particularly successful. Obviously there are some matches if you’re doing that and it’s working, fine. But if you keep repeating the same pattern of play or keep trying the same thing and it’s not working, that shows that you’re just not making the right decisions.”

Murray: Mentally today I was poor

Despite stating that decision-making will never be perfect, Murray reckoned that it is important to recognise when a plan is working or not and change them accordingly.

“You’re not going to get every single one right in the match,” Murray said. “But you also have to be present enough to acknowledge what is actually happening in the points and why you are winning and losing points.”

“Mentally today I was poor. My attitude was poor on the court and those are two things you can control,” Murray said. “If they’re not there, that also will make the decision-making harder.”

‘It was a pleasure to play against Andy’

Meanwhile, Diego Schwartzman has opened up about how much he enjoyed playing against Andy Murray. “It was a pleasure to play against Andy,” Schwartzman said in his on-court interview. “We had not played before and he is coming back and every week he is playing better and moving better. I have a lot of respect because when I grew up playing tennis, I was watching Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal], Andy and Novak [Djokovic] and right now playing against him, is a pleasure for me.”

“I really like to play here,” Schwartzman added. “I like the city and the story. It is a very special city for me because when I started to play my best tennis, I reached the finals here twice. I also enjoy it here with the people. It is special after so many months with playing without crowds.”