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Andy Murray's devastating admission in Aus Open press conference

Andy Murray, pictured here after his loss to Taro Daniel at the Australian Open.
Andy Murray said he might not be back at the Australian Open next year. Image: Getty/Australian Open

Andy Murray has cast doubt on his future in tennis, saying he won't be back at the Australian Open in 2023 if he keeps playing the way he played on Thursday night.

The five-time Australian Open finalist suffered a second-round exit in a 6-4 6-4 6-4 loss to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel on John Cain Arena.

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The 34-year-old said he was planning to come back for a 15th Australian Open campaign next year, but only if his form warranted it.

"Yeah. I mean, yeah. But not if I do what I did tonight too often this season," Murray said.

"This is a really important year for me for a number of reasons, and I want to perform well in the big events. For me, tonight is not good enough in that respect.

"Making second round of slams is not something I find particularly motivating. I want to be doing better than that.

"Yeah, depends on how I get on this year results-wise and how I perform in the big events."

Murray was playing his first Australian Open since 2019, when he received an emotional farewell video after suggesting it could be his last ever appearance.

Murray beat 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in five sets in the first round but couldn't repeat it against World No.120 Daniel, despite taking a 2-0 lead early in the third set.

It was the first time the "frustrated" and "disappointed" former World No.1 had lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 at a slam.

Andy Murray, pictured here during his loss to Taro Daniel at the Australian Open.
Andy Murray looks on during his loss to Taro Daniel at the Australian Open. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

"Obviously if I lose in the second round of a slam and I lose to Djokovic in five sets or something, it's different, a different situation," the World No.113 said.

"Obviously I'm not, you know, seeded and stuff just now.

"I'm far away from that, which makes things difficult in terms of like I've played Basilashvili a couple of times and Stefanos (Tsitsipas) at the US Open, and that makes things challenging, as well. That's where I like the rankings.

"That's not what motivates me but moving up the rankings and getting seeded in tournaments helps give you the opportunity maybe to build your way into a tournament a little bit and maybe not have to come out and start playing really well straightaway and find your game a bit.

"So it depends on many things, the situations. But obviously, a performance like tonight is not something I find motivating at this stage."

Tsitsipas and Rublev advance at Australian Open

Elsewhere on Thursday, big guns Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev both advanced to the third round at Melbourne Park.

Tsitsipas had plenty of support on hand at Margaret Court Arena and traded tiebreaks against Sebastian Baez before pulling away to prevail 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4.

It took Tsitsipas three hours and 22 minutes to get past Baez, with the French Open finalist hitting 63 unforced errors to the 21-year-old's 48, while he won just four of 18 break points.

"It wasn't easy. I'm glad I overcame that obstacle today. Lots of fighting, a little bit of swearing but I'm glad to be in the third round," fourth seed Tsitsipas said.

Meanwhile, Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev continued his powerhouse start to 2022, smashing Ricardas Berankis 6-4 6-2 6-0 to book his spot in the third round.

The Australian Open is Rublev's first tournament of the year after he was forced to withdraw from the ATP Cup having tested positive to Covid-19.

But the 24-year-old showed no signs of ring rust in the one-hour, 47-minute demolition of Berankis, a Lithuanian who has been ranked inside the top 50 but is now back to No.93.

with AAP

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