Andy Murray exits Wimbledon with uncertainty after loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas

On being asked to dissect his loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of Wimbledon a rollicking fivesetter that lasted more than 4 12 hours spread over two days before a packed Centre Court filled with thousands of his closest and loudest friends Andy Murray started answers to question after question at his news conference Friday with some variation of that themeIt was likely a verbal crutch something used to gather his thoughts before offering a more complete response It also embodied the uncertainty that seems to surround a former No 1 player who owns three Grand Slam titles two at the All England Club but also is now 36 and with an artificial hip after two operationsWas it harder to accept this 76 3 67 2 46 76 3 64 defeat given both how close it was and all hes been through I dont know to be honest Murrays reply beganDid the match change because it was suspended Thursday at 1040 pm right after hed taken a twosetstoone lead because rules prevent play after 11 pm I dont know to be honestHow frustrating was it that the contest was put on hold for nearly 18 hours Well you never know what would have happenedDoes the player ahead in that circumstance want to keep playing while the player trailing prefers to stop I dont knowWill he return to Wimbledon next year I dont knowIm obviously very disappointed just now You never know how many opportunities youre going to get to play here Murray said The defeats maybe feel a bit tougher But to be honest every year that Wimbledons not gone how I would like its been hardThis was his second consecutive exit in the second round at the site of three of his greatest triumphs the 2012 Olympic gold medal and the 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon championships His trophy a decade ago was the first for a British man at the All England Club in singles in 77 yearsMurray has not been past the third round at any major since getting to the 2017 quarterfinals at WimbledonI mean ultimately this was an opportunity for me I had a good chance of having a proper run for the first time in a long time at a Slam I didnt take it he said and bit on the collar of his white TshirtAlso Read Players slip but Wimbledon boss insists courts good grippyOn the point before action was halted Thursday Murray slipped and fell at the baseline He called it jarring and said he felt some initial pain and discomfort but would not characterize it as an injury and said he was OK when action resumed FridayIts never easy against Andy I know everyone loves him here said the No 5seeded Tsitsipas a twotime runnerup at majors including at the Australian Open in JanuaryAll in all Friday was rough for the local fans The other two British men left in the bracket No 12 Cam Norrie and wildcard entry Liam Broady were sent home too Norrie was defeated by Chris Eubanks of the United States 63 36 62 76 3 and Broady lost to No 26 Denis Shapovalov of Canada 46 62 75 75At night Novak Djokovic moved into the fourth round as he pursues some more significant numbers a fifth consecutive title at Wimbledon an eighth overall there a 24th from all majors by making quick work of Stan Wawrinka 63 61 76 5 Djokovic trailed 53 in the closing tiebreaker before reeling off the last four pointsNo 7 Andrey Rublev and No 8 Jannik Sinner also both got to the fourth round while No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No 3 Daniil Medvedev reached the third The No 1 woman Iga Swiatek made her way into the fourth round shes never been further at the All England Club as did No 4 Jessica Pegula No 2 Aryna Sabalenka twotime champion Petra Kvitova and 2022 runnerup Ons Jabeur moved into the third round But No 5 Caroline Garcia was a 76 0 46 75 loser against No 32 Marie BouzkovaBecause it was so late by the time Murray and Tsitsipas took the court Thursday the retractable roof was closedIt was open Friday afternoon After so much rain earlier in the week the pale blue sky was unencumbered by clouds and some folks sitting on the side of the stadium blanketed by sun flapped fans with the temperature at 85 degrees Fahrenheit 30 degrees CelsiusTsitsipas drew hearty boos when he disputed a ruling in Fridays second game but he never seemed rattled during points He took the last four points of the fourthset tiebreaker Friday just as he did in the firstset tiebreaker Thursday then broke early in the fifth to lead 21 and was on his wayHes someone who will make it a marathon regardless of whether you want it or not said Tsitsipas whose girlfriend and mixed doubles partner Paula Badosa watched from his guest box after she stopped playing during her match earlier Friday because of a bad backI had to work extra hard today to get that victory My legs are sore right now He made me run left and right up and downEach player only broke the other once Murrays ability to return is one of his many elite skills and he was upset at himself for not managing to do more damage to the serves coming off the racket of TsitsipasOne pivotal moment came with Tsitsipas serving at 4all 1530 in the fourth set Murray hit a short sharply angled backhand return that was called out by a line judge and chair umpire Aureacutelie Tourte a TV graphic replay showed the ball actually clipped the chalk and should have countedIt was right underneath the umpires nose Murray saidHell probably think about that one some more Hes also likely to think about what else went wrong against TsitsipasMurray spoke before the tournament about having an idea how much longer he will stay on tourI dont plan to stop right now But this one will take a little while to get over he said Friday Hopefully find the motivation again to keep training keep pushing try and keep getting betterIn other words he doesnt know precisely what the future holdsWith AP inputs