"I hope he reflects": Andy Murray urged to reconsider pessimistic view after 2023 Paris Masters defeat

Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has urged the former world number one Andy Murray to reconsider his pessimistic view after a recent debacle.

The 36-year-old suffered a defeat in the first round of the Paris Masters to Australia’s Alex de Minaur with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 5-7.

After the match, Murray admitted that he is ‘not enjoying’ playing at the highest level. His comments raised concerns about his future.

Smith was quoted in a report on Daily Express where he urged the three-time Grand Slam winner to reconsider those remarks.

“I think it’s normal,” he said. “He’s a bloody good tennis player and he’s trying to find that way because he’s not been far away in some matches. Like, yesterday would have been a really good win.

“What is Demon, like 13 in the world? It’s a bloody good win and he’s so close to it and he is getting hacked off on the court because he knows he can do better still. I think it must be difficult.

“The Tsitsipas match [in the Wimbledon second-round] and there’s been moments this year where he could’ve changed things quite a lot by getting over the line in a couple of them and I know he hasn’t and that will really frustrate him.

“I think if you win a bit less, it’s just normal. Where do you get your confidence from? It’s winning isn’t it? I hope he reflects on yesterday because I thought he played some really, really good tennis.

“From a set and 4-3 down he sort of clicked up a gear. He was playing well in the first set, I mean he should have won the first set really as well. But I thought it was what he was doing with the stuff he’s been working on in practice, I thought that was the best - from what I have seen as well - as best as he’s hit the ball and what he was doing with it.

“I thought he was dominating on his forehand from the centre of the court really, really well. I thought he played better when he came forwards at the net than previous. So for me, those two elements were really good. Very aggressive on second serve, returning it.”