World No.1 Andy Murray reveals how he has struggled to stay motivated

Britain’s Andy Murray, who has suffered a dip in form this year, said on Wednesday it had been hard at times for him to stay motivated since he became world number one last year. Appearing at a promotional event in Paris with French Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner, who has dominated the men’s +100kg category in his sport for years, Murray praised Riner’s motivation to stay at the top for so long.

“I got to number one in the world at the end of last year and there’s been some times this year where it has been difficult to keep up the motivation and set new goals,” Murray said. With the French Open starting on Sunday, three-times grand slam winner Murray looks a pale imitation of the player who won his last 24 matches of 2016 to knock Novak Djokovic off his pedestal and seize power in men’s tennis.

Not since Pete Sampras in 1999 has a world number one had a worse start to a year, with Murray’s win percentage at a fairly modest 70.8 percent. The Scot said the last few months had been difficult and he had had some problems with his elbow early in the year.

“But over the …read more