ANDY MURRAY threw doubt over his future by admitting he is “not enjoying tennis” at the moment.
The heroic Brit, 36, lost a gruelling three-hour, three-set battle to Alex De Minaur in the first round of the Paris Masters on Monday.
Andy Murray let out his anger after losing to Alex De MinaurRex
He served for the match twice in the decider and even had match point as the Aussie battled back from 5-2 down to win the last five games.
Murray’s anger boiled over after netting a forehand to hand victory to his bogeyman opponent – who has now won all six of their meetings – as he was booed for furiously smashing his racket into the court.
And though the former world No1 did not explicitly suggest he would be retiring, he knows things do need to change for him.
Murray – who underwent hip resurfacing surgery in 2019 before resurrecting his career – said: “I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing.
“The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not much positivity there.
“When I play a good point, I’m not really getting behind myself and then in the important moments, that will to win and fight that has always been quite a big, big part of my game.
“It’s not just going to be like one or two weeks of training to get me to where I need to get to, it’s going to have to be a lot of work and consistent work to give myself a chance.”
Murray has not gone beyond the third round of a tournament since reaching the Doha final in February and he last won back-to-back tennis matches in early August.
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The defeat in round one at the Accor Arena means he has not won a match at the prestigious Masters 1000 tournament since lifting the trophy in 2016 – and missed out on his best win of the season by ranking.
The two-time Wimbledon champion is on a rotten run of five defeats from his last six matches, including a painful second-round exit in Basel.
World No40 Murray suffered a similar agonising defeat to Katie Boulter’s boyfriend De Minaur in Beijing last month, again letting a 5-2 third-set lead slip and obliterating his racket afterwards.
And Monday’s victory saw the world No13 from Sydney, 24, became the first person ever to beat Murray on clay, grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard in the same year following successes at Monte Carlo, Queen’s and Beijing.
GettyThe Brit admitted he is not enjoying tennis at the moment[/caption]