To say it has been a rough start to 2024 for Andy Murray would be an understatement. Stretching back to the start of October last year, Murray has now lost his last six singles matches with his last defeat – to Czech Tomas Machac in Marseille – feeling like something of a professional nadir.
Of course there have been injury-ravaged seasons during which it appeared his body may fail him but in healthy seasons – which this seemingly is – the Scot has never before appeared so uncompetitive on tour.
At 36, talk has already turned to an impending retirement and Murray himself has opened the door to the idea of even dropping down to the Challenger Tour in an attempt to rediscover his form.
After his Machac loss, Murray said: “I can compete with the guys, but I haven’t won the matches, and when you lose them, you lose confidence,” Murray explained. “I never had that in my whole career. When I lost one week early, usually the next week it was semi-finals, finals, and winning. Now I’ve lost a lot, and close matches as well. It’s something I’ve not really experienced before.”
The Challenger Tour has not come knocking as yet and it’s the ATP 250 Qatar Open at which Murray has opted to try and lift the malaise currently hanging low over his game – and potentially career.
He got to the final here last year and under normal circumstances would expect to beat France’s Alexandre Muller fairly comfortably but in this current vein of form it is virtually impossible to prophesize which Murray we will get in Doha this afternoon.