"2022 will be a defining year for Andy Murray" believes Greg Rusedski

Andy Murray slowly but surely improved over the course of 2021 and former British number one Greg Rusedski believes 2022 will be a defining year for him.

Andy Murray never gave up on his belief that he can still play amongst the best in tennis and his form in the latter part of the year should give him reason to be optimistic. The British player had some decent results and wins such as the one over Hubert Hurkacz recently, who will play at the ATP Finals in Turin.

Speaking on Murray and what he was able to do in 2021, Rusedski said:

"It gets harder every single year, because this project has been going on for four years and the signs were looking really good from the US Open all the way until Paris, but his defeat to Dominik Koepfer was a little bit disappointing to be honest."

Dissecting the loss against Koepfer Rusedski said:

"Physically his body really didn't warm up for the first set and a bit. When his opponent served for the match at 5-4, he wasn't moving well, he wasn't striking the ball well. And he had seven match points and couldn't find a way through that match so I think it's going to be a hard road back to where he wants to."

Speaking about the future Rusedski believes 2022 will be pivotal for Murray going forward as he said:

"I think 2022 we will know what Andy Murray is going to do. Is he going to continue on tour or is it going to be his last year? I think this is kind of the season that's going to determine how much longer we're going to see of that great champion."

He further added:

"Next year is going to allow him to make the decision he wants because he will look back at this year and say, 'I trained really hard in the off-season, I was very unlucky I caught COVID so I was ready for the Australian Open', which is one of his favourite tournaments. He reached the final on six occasions and he really didn't get that momentum he was hoping for."

And finished off with:

"Now with restrictions being lifted, now that you're vaccinated and travelling has become a little bit easier without the quarantine, there's not really any excuse. He can have a season where he can travel, choose his events, hopefully physically stay strong and he can make a decision on what he wants to do because at 34 years of age it doesn't get any easier, trust me!"