Speaking after his loss to Carlos Alcaraz, who got revenge over Murray at last week’s ATP 500 in Vienna, the world No 144 gave a defiant statement, saying he wouldn’t be losing in early rounds for much longer.
Rusedski reacted to the 34-year-old’s comments, adding: ““He says ‘I’m not going to be happy losing in second and third rounds’. The problem he’s going to have is he’s not going to be seeded at these events.
“He’s 144 in the world and to get his ranking up he’s going to have to beat two or three top 10 players back to back, especially in these Masters Series events.
“I commend him for all the hard work he’s putting in but he must be extremely frustrated because he’s not getting the results he wants out there even though his tennis is getting better.”
Explaining the significance he believes next season will have on the rest of the former world No 1’s career, Rusedski also 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.”