John McEnroe believes Andy Murray will “really evaluate where he’s at” after his US Open exit because 30 to 40 in the world is not where the Brit “should be.”
The seven-time major singles champion also praised the 36-year-old for his success since his injury comeback and feels he can still beat anyone “on a given day.”
Murray suffered a straight-set defeat to world No 19 Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of the 2023 US Open last week, continuing a run of frustrating Grand Slam results.
The three-time major winner is currently ranked 37th – one spot below his highest position since undergoing two hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019.
The former world No 1 fell in five sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of Wimbledon in July. He has been unable to make it past the third round at his last 12 majors – a run stretching back to 2017.
In an interview with Eurosport, McEnroe recognised the challenges Murray has encountered in Grand Slams during the latter part of his career.
“He knows his body a lot better than I do obviously. It’s tougher as you get older, I can tell you from my own experiences, to bounce back to that level seven times. That’s the problem. Can Murray on a given day beat anyone? I think he could,” said the American.
“But to do it over the course of a couple of weeks where things happen? That’s the part where I think as you get older, it’s much tougher. It makes what Novak [Djokovic] does all the more astounding, that he’s still at that level at his age. He’s arguably better than ever.
“I think he’s already had success, just being able to come back to a level that he’s proud of. I know it’s got to be unbelievably frustrating for him, this last four or five years basically suck in a lot of ways.
“But he’s got a family, he’s got four kids, he looks healthy, he’s moving better than he has been, so it’s important as you get older to look at the glass half full, as opposed to half empty.
“It’s easy to do, looking at it half empty, when things aren’t going the way they used to. And it’s tough. But success for him is whatever he wants success to be.”
Despite highlighting the reasons Murray has to be positive, the former world No 1 thinks a player of the Brit’s calibre belongs higher than his current ranking.
“I doubt we’ll see him play a whole lot more this year, maybe a couple of events in Europe. I think he’s going to really evaluate where he’s at right now, 30-40 in the world, it’s a lot better than it was but that’s not where Andy Murray should be,” continued McEnroe.
“He’s an unbelievable player, a first ballot Hall of Famer. In certain ways, it’s got to be extremely difficult. But in other ways, he’s made it farther than a lot of people thought.”
