(Reuters) – Former world number one Andy Murray said he is seeing signs of improvement in his game after reaching his first ATP quarter-final in two years on Wednesday with a comfortable victory over Canada’s Vasek Pospisil at the Moselle Open.
The 34-year-old Briton, who had hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, has not been able to get back to the kind of form that helped him win three major titles and two consecutive Olympic singles gold medals in London and Rio de Janeiro.
Murray, who has slipped to 113th in the rankings, showed glimpses of his old self on Tuesday when he rallied to beat world number 26 Ugo Humbert of France — the highest-ranked opponent he has defeated this year.
He then beat world number 66 Pospisil 6-3 6-3 to reach the last eight stage at an ATP tournament for the first time since winning in Antwerp in October 2019.
“This period has been the most tournaments I’ve played (recently) and my body feels good and I’m starting to gain just a little bit of confidence with each match,” Murray said on Wednesday at the ATP 250 event in Metz, France.
“I’m starting to see the points and how I want to play them again, which is great.
“There have been times in the past year where I’ve been a little bit confused and not seeing how the points are developing and stuff, which for me was always a strong part of my game and it made me feel quite uncomfortable on the court when I was feeling that way.
“I’m starting to get that back and the results are coming and my tennis is getting better.”
Murray reached the third round of this year’s Wimbledon and stretched Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets in his opening round defeat at the U.S. Open.
He will meet either top seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz or French player Lucas Pouille for a place in the semi-finals.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Peter Rutherford)
