Murray and Pepperell struck up a good rapport, with Murray confiding in the Englishman about the difficult final years of his tennis career as he struggled with both form and fitness. Speaking on his The Chipping Forecast podcast after the tournament, the world No. 503, said: “I asked if he’d focused on his strengths or weaknesses during his career.
“He said the thing he got wrong at the end of his career was the fact he focused a lot on his negatives. He spent a lot of time working on things to get better and over time, he started to enjoy the process of getting better less and less as opposed to focusing on the strengths.
“At the end of his career, he wasn’t as happy as he was when he was doing well. That certainly struck a chord with me because I think I’ve been there for a good while and find the whole existence of getting better very challenging. We certainly agreed on that, the idea that your strengths are things to stay on top of it you can.”
Pepperell couldn’t speak highly enough of Murray, saying he was an excellent addition to the tournament. He said: “He was a great partner, an unusual partner, because it felt like I was partnering up with a professional, with his level of focus, concentration and standard too.
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“He’s quite a shy person, Andy, but extremely open. Other people came up to me to say how nice he’d been to them with photos and stuff. He was a great addition to the tournament.”
Murray, who has designs on getting down to scratch and having a go at qualifying for The Open Championship, also impressed MacIntyre at the Alfred Dunhill. Speaking to NBC during the tournament, he said: “He’s looking good. Overall, he’s been solid.”
