John Lloyd has said that, excluding Novak Djokovic, the current top 10 in the ATP world rankings shows a drop in quality for the men's singles.

Former British No. 1 John Lloyd has written of his belief that men's singles tennis isn't what it used to be. This came as part of his discussion about the future of former world No. 1 Andy Murray, who after injury struggles now sits at No. 40 in the rankings.

Lloyd wrote that Murray was still "as good if not better" than most of the current top 10, excluding the current No. 2 and 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic. Carlos Alacaraz holds the No. 1 status, whilst the rest of the list is made up of Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, and Frances Tiafoe respectively.

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Comments come after Murray's defeat

Ironically, these comments come after Murray's defeat in his second-round match at Wimbledon to current world No. 5 Tsitsipas.

However, it was an intense five-set battle. Murray was leading 2 sets to 1 at the end of the first day, when the match clashed with the Centre Court curfew and had to be suspended. The following day, though, Tsitsipas came back fighting, and won 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. 

The closeness of this match may help to explain the reasoning behind Lloyd's comments. Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, he said

"He will have expected to beat Tsitsipas. Players say they don’t look ahead in the draw but I’m sure Andy had a little peak and knew what a good opportunity this was

"I think he believes, and I’m in agreement, that the top 10 right now is one of the weakest we’ve seen for years, Novak Djokovic aside obviously. They are damn good players but there’s definitely people in that top 10 who Andy would look at and believe he is as good as them if not better."

However, Lloyd did praise Tsitsipas, adding that "it’s the best match he has ever played on grass, but Murray knows a few years ago he would have found a way to win."

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The end of the road for Murray?

Despite Lloyd's claims about the current top 10, he is also doubtful as to Murray's future in the sport. Indeed, the two-time Wimbledon champion himself has said that he isn't sure whether or not he will play at the tournament next year.

"It sounds like he was absolutely shattered by that loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas and it is not easy to come back from that.

"It wouldn’t surprise me if he thought he could win Wimbledon this year. Guys like Andy don’t turn up hoping to just ‘have a good run’, it is not in their DNA."

Regarding the top 10, quadruple defending champion Djokovic is the clear favorite to win the SW19. Meanwhile, only Casper Ruud (No. 4), and Taylor Fritz (No. 9) have been knocked out of the tournament so far.

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