Andy Murray admits he’s no certainty to return to the Australian Open next year after bowing during today’s second-round action.
The former No.1-ranked Murray lost to 120th-ranked Taro Daniel in straight sets, 6-4 6-4 6-4.
Murray only lost five games in a best-of-five-set Davis Cup encounter against Daniel in their only previous encounter in 2016, and he had never lost to anyone ranked above No.91 at a major tournament.
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Following the defeat, Murray was asked whether he was planning on returning to Australia next year.
“Yeah… but not if I do what I did tonight too often this season,” he said.
“This is a really important year for me for a number of reasons, and I want to perform well in the big events.
“For me, tonight is not good enough in that respect. You know, making the second round of slams is not something I find particularly motivating.
“I want to be doing better than that. Depends on how I get on this year results-wise and how I perform in the big events.”
Murray also spoke on the difficulties of adjusting to a new racquet.
“I have recently changed racquets, which for me it’s not an excuse for losing today, but I also, I have to factor that into maybe my performances for a couple of months,” he said.
“You know, everyone I have spoken to around testing and changing racquets, that it does take a bit of time to gain confidence in it, so I have to bear that in mind a little bit.
“The reason for changing racquets is to improve your performance and to do better obviously, in the bigger events with time, and that didn’t happen this week.
“So, you know, that’s frustrating for me.”
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Daniel, a 28-year-old qualifier from Japan, broke in the ninth game of the third set to take a 5-4 lead and then served it out to advance to the third round of a major for the first time.
The 34-year-old Murray, a five-time runner-up in Australia, was playing on a wild-card entry.
His win over 21st-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round was his first at the Australian Open since 2017.
Injuries and illness kept him out in 2018 (hip), 2020 (pelvis) and 2021 (COVID-19), and he lost a five-setter in the first round in 2019, which many thought might have been his last in Australia.
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