MATCH POINT: Andy Murray’s body remains remarkably strong but the iron self-belief has been eroded… PLUS, Arthur Fery is ours but plays like he’s French

• Andy Murray is figuring out his schedule for what remains of the season
• He has cut a somewhat tortured figure on court when losing in recent weeks
• Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here

The melancholy of autumn’s onset has been postponed in many parts of the UK this year, an unexpected warmth-prolonging summer when it should have been consigned to the past by now.

This might be a metaphor for the career of Andy Murray, who continues to battle away at the highest level despite the lump of metal in his hip and years after reports of his demise proved exaggerated.

The same could also be said for the Scot’s fellow three-time major winner — Swiss Stan Wawrinka — who at 38 is still persevering after multiple surgeries to his foot and knee which would have finished many other men. Both lost in the first round of Shanghai last week, and in the case of Murray it was not an easy watch. Looking underpowered, he was comfortably beaten by Russian Roman Safiullin at a tournament the 36-year-old Scot has won three times.

Nor was it comfortable seeing him fail to finish off Alex de Minaur the previous week in Beijing from a winning position. Murray’s body remains remarkably strong, considering all it has been through, but increasingly it seems that the iron self-belief of old has been eroded by everything he has coped with. The key is being put into the ignition, but the engine is not firing.

He has cut a somewhat tortured figure on court when losing, loudly berating himself at the failure to win matches which are all, in many ways, a bonus for someone who has already defied medical diagnosis. According to his management, Murray is this week figuring out his schedule for what remains of the season. Whether that will include the Davis Cup finals in late November is open to debate, as on current form he is looking a marginal selection.

Andy Murray smashes his racket after failing to finish off Alex de Minaur in Beijing

That will be down to Great Britain captain Leon Smith, but otherwise what Murray does is entirely down to him in an individual sport while his ranking is at a level — presently 39 — that gains him entry into the tournaments he wants to play.

He has earned that right, although some of his matches of the past two months must have had him pondering the future.

A long stint in Asia away from his growing family, which has yielded three defeats and a solitary win over someone ranked below 600, is the kind of thing which may focus the mind. If so he is not the only great performer in a chosen sport to have been wrestling with this trickiest of subjects, one which for many sportspeople brings an element of fear.

Last month former England cricket captain Alastair Cook finally took his leave in a county game at Northampton, having chosen to play on for Essex for the love of it after pulling stumps on his international career five years previously.

Legendary jockey Frankie Dettori has been contemplating the R-word and is meant to be bowing out of his sport at the end of this season, though rumours persist that the Italian is unsure whether he really means it.

As he has shown before in spades, Murray is not the type who should be hastily written off. Almost this time a year ago he played one of the worst matches of his top-line career when losing at the Paris Masters to Frenchman Gilles Simon (who happened to be retiring that week).

Within barely two months we were marvelling as he defeated Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open and followed it up with an extraordinary five-set win over Thanasi Kokkinakis which finished at 4.06am.

The fact remains that he could, just about, still gain a seeding for the Australian Open in January. The failure to gain a high enough ranking to secure one of these privileged spots in a major draw has been among the greatest frustrations for him this season.

Murray must do what is right for him, and this remarkable athlete fully deserves to exit at a time of his choosing. But like for the rest of us, it may soon feel like winter is closing in.

Murray continues to battle away at the highest level despite the lump of metal in his hip

Shanghai swing confuses fans

You are not alone if you have been trying to follow the current swing of tournaments in China and been confused by the days of the week they have been starting and finishing. The ATP final in Beijing, for example, was played on a Wednesday.

Part of it is down to accommodating the controversial length of these extended Masters events, such as the one currently taking place in Shanghai.

In fairness there have been other factors, as explained by an ATP spokesperson. One was to allow players more time to travel from September’s Davis Cup commitments, another was to try to minimise waiting time between tournaments for early losers.

There was also a desire to capitalise on China’s ‘Golden Week’, the prolonged national holiday at the start of October and the first since Covid, to try and maximise crowd numbers.

Top players missing in Seville

So none of the top four women will be at the Billie Jean King Cup finals next month. 

Aryna Sabalenka cannot play because Belarus is banned while Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula appear to be simply sitting it out. 

Yet really, when the WTA Finals is played the week immediately before in Cancun, seven time zones away from Seville, host to the team event, what did anyone expect? Tennis still holds itself back with its lack of joined-up thinking.

Highly-rated Arthur Fery grew up in London but plays with a distinctly Gallic style

Fery’s ours but plays like he’s French

British performance of the week came from Arthur Fery, who came through qualifying and made his first Challenger final at Mouilleron Le Captif in France.

The 21-year-old made a decent impression when he made Daniil Medvedev work hard at Wimbledon this year. The Russian was slightly ungenerous afterwards, placing him among the rump of those top 500 players trying to crack the big time.

Fery is actually an intriguing prospect with excellent hands and has an interesting background — his parents are French with his father owning a football club (Lorient) and his mother once having played at Roland Garros. Another unusual aspect to him is that, although he grew up in London and is a GB product, you cannot help see his game and think he plays with a distinctly Gallic style. And as anyone who watches the game knows, there is barely such a thing as a boring French tennis player.

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