Andy Murray admitted he is not enjoying his tennis after suffering another disappointing defeat to Alex de Minaur in the first round of the Paris Masters.
Murray had lost all five previous matches against the Australian, including three this season, with the most recent coming in Beijing where the Briton failed to convert three match points.
The former world No 1 looked on course to end that run on Monday after recovering from losing the opening set tie-break to lead 5-2 in the decider.
However, Murray failed to win either of his next two service games – despite having a match point in the second – and the world No 13 prevailed 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 in just over three hours.
Murray’s temper boiled over during the final set as he knocked the drinks bottles and towel off his bench during a change of ends before smashing his racket on the floor after the last point.
The disappointing run of form has left the 36-year-old two-time Wimbledon champion questioning what else he has to do to get back to winning ways.
“I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing,” Murray said. “The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try to 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 … ”
after newsletter promotion
Another Briton who did not enjoy the match was Katie Boulter – the girlfriend of De Minaur. The British No 1 wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Had enough Alex and Andy for the rest of my life. No more please and thank you.”
Murray, who is entered for next week’s ATP 250 event in Metz, said he will take some time to consider whether to play for Great Britain in the Davis Cup at the end of November. He added: “If I want to keep going, I’m going to need a lot of work. 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.”