Andy Murray has insisted he can get back to the very top, after admitting he has made changes to his game after a second-round defeat against Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon.
Murray is up to No 36 in the ATP rankings, his highest position since he underwent hip surgery in 2019.
Yet the three-time Grand Slam champion wants more, as he outlined in an interview with The Guardian.
“I think that the players I played against probably feel a similar way – that I’m not playing 40‑in‑the‑world level tennis,” said Murray.
“I do think that I’m playing a better level than that and that’s the thing that’s positive for me, and the thing that keeps me going. Providing that I keep learning and improving and working on the right things, my ranking will keep going up and I’ll win more matches against the best players.
“Obviously, I’d like to be doing better. I would like to be ranked higher. I’d like to have had more runs at the bigger events and everything.
“Also, I have to try at times, you have to keep things in perspective. I’m at my highest ranking I’ve been since I had the operation on my hip. I’m really proud of that.
“I had that operation a really long time ago. It has taken lots and lots of hard work and effort to get back to the top 40 in the world and I still feel like before the year’s out that I can push that even higher.
“I don’t think that this is like the limit for me. I do think that I can get myself much higher.”
Murray was forced to pull out of last week’s Toronto Masters event with an abdominal problem, but it seems he is content with his approach heading into the US Open.
“I was much happier, even though I lost the match against (Taylor) Fritz in Washington, in terms of the way that I played the match and approach to some of the shots in my game that I’ve been working on, usually it can take a little while,” added Murray.
“You can work on something for a couple of weeks usually, and for it to feel good straight away. But some of the stuff I’ve been working on sunk in pretty quick and that’s been really positive.”
Meanwhile, former British No 1 Laura Robson has suggested Murray is already back at the top of the game and it is a matter of time before he has a big breakthrough.
“He is playing so consistently now, playing week-in, week-out. The more matches he can play the better,” Robson told Tennis365 at a Play Your Way To Wimbledon event.
“He is one of the toughest opponents out there, he never gives in and he is great at working out matches as he goes.
“This is what he has been striving for in the last few years since his return. He is very much back up there again.
“You thought maybe he was going to do it at Wimbledon, but it seems inevitable that it will happen at some point.
“The fact that he is still loving it as much as he does is a positive sign and for all the young lads coming up to see someone who has won as much as he has still competing as well as he did 15 years ago, that’s inspiring.”
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