Andy Murray admits his recent downturn in form could have been avoided had he prioritised dedicated training over competition.
Murray 's season ended in a whimper as he was defeated by French veteran Giles Simon 4-6 7-5 6-3 in the first round of the Paris Masters. The 35-year-old had a bright start to the campaign, reaching finals in both Sydney and Stuttgart.
But the Scot's performances have dipped in recent months and Murray has grown frustrated at a recurring cramp problem that is stifling him during matches. Murray's mystery cramp issue, that also troubled him at the US Open, hindered the former world No.1 in his match against Simon, who is playing in his final tournament on the ATP Tour.
And Murray is convinced that that he could have maintained a consistent level of performance had he chosen to focus on a dedicated training regime after Wimbledon. He instead entered a minor event in Newport, where he reached the quarter-finals.
"If I'm being completely honest, I don't think the last four or five months that that's necessarily been happening, since the issue sort of started in Newport, Washington time," Murray admitted.
"Maybe one of the mistakes that I made was like playing Newport. I could have done a training block there to get in the heat and prepare better for the summer."
Murray has made an impressive resurgence back to world No.48 this season after falling below the top 100 in the ATP rankings. And his rise has been testament to his commitment on the court after undergoing two hip surgeries that had threatened to end his career.
But Murray's cramp issue came back to haunt him in the second set against Simon, and the two-time Wimbledon champion insists that he needs to push himself even harder if his results are to improve in 2023.
"Having that happen after a set and a half on an indoor court where it's not particularly hot is not really acceptable," he said. "It's nothing to do with my hip. I just think the reality is I need to work harder. Obviously, there's certain things I can and can't do nowadays, I need to be a bit more careful with some of the training that I do.
"But I can certainly do more than what I have done and push myself harder than what I have done recently. What I'm trying to do is extremely hard. I need to do exceptional things to still compete."
