As Andy Murray stepped to the baseline to close out his first-round match against Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters on Monday afternoon, his nervousness was instantly obvious. Across his 19 years on the tour, Murray’s success has been defined by his grit, fight and ruthlessness in the moments that truly mattered.
His recent months, though, have been marked by the absence of such mental toughness. From a 5-2 and advantage-40 third-set lead, match point, Murray screamed, shouted and buried his racket into the ground as he struck three unforced errors in a row. It was the start of a monumental momentum swing that led to Murray losing five games in succession and with them the match.
