Andy Murray played at the Shanghai Master earlier this week. The former world number one lost in the second round to Fabio Fognini. Despite the loss, the British player is proud of his progress after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in February. He has been careful with his comeback. He returned to action in June, playing doubles matches as a way to ease back into the game. Murray is now playing singles matches and has been competitive in the Asian.
The British player has said he will plan his schedule to prioritize doing well at major tournaments. In an interview with The Times, Murray has talked about his long-term plans. He gave his opinion about the careers of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal. Murray said he would follow their example of managing their schedules. He singled out Nadal and said he admired how he has managed to stay competitive despite dealing with injuries. With the Spaniard in a position to overtake Djokovic for the number one title, Murray has observed that the 33-year-old has not prioritized overtaking the Serbian. “Right now, Rafa could be fighting to finish number one in the world and it’s not a priority for him.”
Nadal confirmed not obsessed for world no.1 rank
Nadal has in the past said that his focus for the next few years of his career is to remain competitive. The Spaniard wants to keep playing at the highest level for as long as he can. He said that chasing the number one ranking is not a priority for him at this point of his career. The Spaniard feels that fighting for the position now would be counterproductive to his main goal of playing hard and competitive tennis. He, however, said he will play at his best level if he has a chance to rise to the position.
Rafa commented:
“I don’t compete for it [the top of the rankings]. I just do my way. If I am able to be No 1 doing my way, great. But I always say the same: today is not my main goal. Of course, is great to be in that fight. But for me personally, is not really a fight. I just try to be competitive the weeks that I need to compete, or the weeks that I want to compete.
With my age and with my goals, I cannot lose energy or time to follow the No 1. I need to think about my career in a different way. For me, my main goal is to play as long as possible and compete, being competitive. Sometimes if you need to follow the No 1, you going to lose years of your career.
But I am there. If I am able to play well until the end of the season, I going to have my chances. That going to be amazing. But I always say the same: is not my main goal today.”
Nadal leads Djokovic in the Year to Date rankings
The 19-time Grand Slam champion is second on the rankings. He could end the year at the number one position currently held by Djokovic. The Spaniard leads the world number one by 1280 points in the year to date rankings. He did not play at the Shanghai Masters because of a wrist injury. The 33-year-old is also preparing for his wedding to Xisca Perello on 19th October. After the wedding, he will play an exhibition match in Kazakhstan against Djokovic on October 24th.
Andy Murray’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.289, Murray played his last match on the 8th of October when he lost to Fabio Fognini 7-64 2-6 7-62 in the 2nd round in Shanghai.
Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 8th of September when he beat Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4 in the final in U.S. Open to win his 84th career title.
This year Nadal has a 47-6 win-loss record. The Spaniard conquered 4 titles in 2019 in Rome, at the French Open, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open. The Spaniard was the finalist at the Australian Open.
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal played each other 26 times. The head to head is 17-9 for Nadal.
The last time that they played each other, Andy Murray won 7-5 6-4 in the semifinal in Madrid in May 2016.
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal |
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