The 33-year-old claimed his first ATP Tour victory in six months on Monday, winning 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 over fellow wildcard Robin Haase in just under two and a half hours at the Rotterdam Open.
The past few years for Murray, who missed last month's Australian Open after testing positive to COVID-19, have seen him battle hip issues, before getting a metal cap inserted to strengthen the area.
Since then, the Scot been unable to reach the levels that previously saw him win major titles and be world number one, leading to constant calls for him to retire, particularly on social media.
"Actually, I deleted it, I don't have Twitter on my phone and I deleted Instagram last week, not because of that [the retirement comments]," Murray said.
"You see those things on Instagram and social media if you're on it, obviously and if you have the app on your phone but I'd watched a while ago that Social Dilemma movie.
"I thought it was brilliant and then actually, a couple of days after my match last week I watched an interview with all the people that were responsible for making that and I was like, 'Yeah, I’m done'. I deleted that off my phone but yes, it's tough."
Murray admitted his return from his injury battles had been physically taxing, while the mental toll had not been easy to handle either.
However, he felt he performed well enough to offer him no genuine reason to want to retire from the Tour.
"Since I came back and started playing with the metal hip, I’ve beaten some pretty good players," he said.
"I beat Stan [Wawrinka], I beat [Matteo] Berrettini, I beat [Alex] Zverev. I served for the match against [Fabio] Fognini. These are top players that I was playing against and competing well against and physically now I'm in a better place than I was then.
"I've put in a lot of good physical work since then so why should I stop because I lost a match last week against someone [Egor Gerasimov] that people would expect me to win against.
"Everyone out there can play and because I'm not on the top of my game just now, and once I get there I believe I'll win matches more competitively.
"Why should I stop? Tell me a good reason for why I should stop playing. I can still compete with the best players in the world with one hip. I think that's quite amusing really."
Third seed Auger-Aliassime beat French qualifier Gregoire Barrere 6-4 6-3, while Medvedev earned a 6-2 6-2 victory against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Despite being the higher-ranked of the two at present, Canadian Auger-Aliassime has a 0-4 career record against Russian Medvedev.
Those losses include a painful defeat from two sets up in the 2022 Australian Open quarter-finals, and a US Open semi-final knockout blow in the previous season.
It is a record that is all the more surprising considering Auger-Aliassime has wins over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Carlos Alcaraz to his name.
Auger-Aliassime sits eighth on the ATP ranking list, three places clear of former number one Medvedev, who is relishing their clash on Friday.
Medvedev said on Amazon Prime: "Felix is a top player. He won here last year and played amazing at the end of last season. I'm looking forward to a tough match, and hopefully I can be at my best.
"He's going to take his opportunities. He's going to go for it when he has the chance. So I will need to be at my best and everything has to be better."
Top seed and Australian Open runner-up Tsitsipas was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Jannik Sinner, with last week's Open Sud de France champion winning in an hour and 21 minutes to set up a quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka.
It was Sinner's first career win over a top-three opponent. The Italian held a 0-8 record against such opponents coming into this match.
Fourth seed Holger Rune is also out after retiring hurt while 6-4 4-0 down to Dutch wildcard Gijs Brouwer, who advances to play compatriot Tallon Griekspoor.
Australian Alex de Minaur advanced to the final eight with a 7-5 3-6 6-3 win over American Maxime Cressy, earning a shot at Grigor Dimitrov next.
Shapovalov was beaten by fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil in his opening match at the Oden Sud de France last week after falling at the first hurdle at the Australian Open.
The world number 16 suffered another setback on Monday, going down 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to the unseeded Dimitrov.
Dimitrov was beaten by outsider Gregoire Barrere in his first match in Montpellier last week but claimed a fourth tour-level victory of the year after saving all three break points he faced against the eighth seed.
The former world number three could face another Canadian in the form of Felix Auger-Aliassime or German Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.
Roberto Bautista Agut, the sixth seed, came from a set down to defeat Marton Fucsovics, while fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta downed Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.
Dan Evans advanced in the final match of the opening day of the tournament, seeing off qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-5.
Canadian teenager Auger-Aliassime will be seeking his first ATP Tour title after losing all three of his showpiece matches in his breakout campaign last year.
He sealed his place in the final with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta in a contest lasting one hour and 49 minutes on Saturday.
Unseeded Auger-Aliassime sent down 16 aces, one of which came on match point, and lost only three of his 48 points on first serve, saving all of the four break points he faced in an impressive outing.
"I was serving the best I've ever served in that first set and then played a solid tie-break," he said after reaching his first final on a hard court.
"In the second set, things got interesting with that long third game [when Auger-Aliassime broke]. I was thinking, 'If this goes my way, it might be tough for him'. So, I really pushed to get through."
Monfils is eyeing back-to-back triumphs, having come into this tournament after winning the Open Sud de France on home soil last week.
He defeated Filip Krajinovic in the semi-finals there and repeated the trick against the Serbian this time, winning 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in a display that saw him hit 35 winners.
"It would be great [to win this title again]," said the Frenchman, who like Auger-Aliassime sealed his victory with an ace.
"It would be unbelievable. It would be the first time to win two titles in a row and actually even the first time to win two titles in the same season, so it would be huge for me."
Monfils, who only gave up one break point against Krajinovic, has never played Auger-Aliassime before.
"Felix is a great guy, a humble guy," said Monfils.
"He is very strong, very talented guy. Definitely, I expect a tough match, but a cool match because I think we might see him for a long time in this stage of tournaments."
Rublev won Sunday's final 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to claim his fourth consecutive ATP 500 title.
The world number eight from Russia has now won 13 of his 14 matches this year, his only defeat coming against Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Rublev won 75 per cent of points on his first serve, winning the first set on a tie-break after saving four break points in the opening game.
Fucsovics was unable to turn it around in the second set, Rublev claiming his second win in three meetings with Fucsovics.
Just the one break in the opening game of the second set was enough for Rublev to add to his victories in Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Vienna last year.
World number two Medvedev lost a thrilling five-set Australian Open final to Rafael Nadal on Sunday and does not feel ready to compete in the Netherlands.
The Russian explained his decision in a statement on Thursday, while Sinner has had to pull out due to COVID-19.
"Unfortunately I will not play in Rotterdam this year," Medvedev said.
"I just got back from Australia and am not ready to compete. Rotterdam is one of the favourite stops. I look forward to coming back in the future."
Roberto Bautista Agut and Borna Coric had already pulled out of the competition. Tournament director Richard Krajicek has confirmed that Murray and Tsonga, who won the event in 2009 and 2017 respectively, will now take part as wild cards.
Andrey Rublev is the reigning champion in Rotterdam after beating Marton Fucsovics in last year's final.
The former world number one took just 82 minutes to win 6-1 6-2, converting six of 13 break points against his Bulgarian opponent.
Medvedev rises back up to 10th in the world rankings after the win, and will go ninth if he can claim the title.
"It was an amazing match," Medvedev said after his victory. "The score [looks] easy, but the match was not. I felt physically like I was playing five sets.
"It would be amazing [to win the tournament]. Every time I come here, and I think it is my fifth time here, everywhere there are photos of the winners and their names.
"I don't remember who won it first time, but then Arthur Ashe won it [twice]. Then [John] McEnroe, [Bjorn] Borg, [Stefan] Edberg, and I'm like, 'Well, that tournament has a history for sure'. To add my name there would be amazing, but for this I need to play well in the final."
That final will be against Jannik Sinner after the Italian overcame spirited home wildcard Tallon Griekspoor.
It was Sinner's impressive serve that saw him through 7-5 7-6 (7-5), not facing a single break point, and ruthlessly taking the only one he carved out all match to take the first set.
He kept his nerve to see out a second set tie-break, and now has the chance to follow up last week's Open Sud de France title with another in Rotterdam.
Former world number one Medvedev committed just five unforced errors in a 6-2 6-4 win on Friday that saw him progress to the semi-finals.
"Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this," Medvedev said afterwards.
"Usually, the best weeks you play, many times you're going to play your best tennis in the last match, so that's definitely a goal.
"But I'm happy with my level today, beating someone like Felix in straight sets."
He will next face Grigor Dimitrov, who needed three sets to see off Alex de Minaur.
Dimitrov saved two match points in claiming a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) victory but seemingly has an uphill challenge having lost four of his six matches against Medvedev.
"I kind of know the plan for the game,” Medvedev added of his clash with Dimitrov. "The thing is, he is going to try to do the same, to make up a good plan. If we take the last two matches, it's 1-1. So I always say a new match is a new match, no matter the head to head.
"I'm preparing for a tough one tomorrow, he's such a great player and today was a great match from him, a great comeback actually. So I'm ready for the tough fight tomorrow."
Jannik Sinner was just as impressive as Medvedev, cruising to a 6-1 6-3 victory over three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
Sinner, who won the Open Sud de France last week and has already dumped out top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, will face Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutchman's win over fellow home hope Gijs Brouwer.
Medvedev reached the US Open final last year but could not reproduce that run on the hard courts in Melbourne.
He was knocked out in the last 16 in a thrilling five-set match with Stan Wawrinka, having also fallen short in an absorbing three-set contest with Novak Djokovic in the ATP Cup semi-final.
Not dispirited by those defeats, Medvedev was in upbeat mood ahead of the Rotterdam Open, where he will be the top seed.
Speaking to the ATP Tour, Medvedev said of his year so far: "I think I have played some good tennis.
"I lost two really strong matches I would say, and of course I always want to win and show better results, but I am just trying to do my thing, stay in there and spend hours on the practice court.
"Try to show the best I can in the tournament, the best during the matches and as I say regarding the results, of course I want something better all the time, but if we talk about my tennis and the wins I had, they were quite good."
Asked about how he motivates himself, Medvedev explained: "To be honest there are a lot of days like this, really a lot.
"It's our job, it's not for fun, it's our job and for me the best motivation that has always pushed me, no matter what ranking I had, was to [be] better, I wanted to win more tournaments whether it was ATP Challengers before and now ATPs, grand slams.
"If I allow myself some days to text my coach and say, 'I don't want to practice today, can we practice tomorrow?' I can do that, tennis is an individual sport, but I just know that it's not going to make a good impact on my results and that's what I'm here for and that's why I push myself."
A 5-7 6-2 6-2 win for Medvedev gave the 27-year-old Russian his first trophy of the year, extending his career head-to-head record to 5-0 against Sinner.
The run from Medvedev this week has secured his return to the top 10 in the rankings, with the former number one set to go up three places to number eight on Monday.
Victory came in sharp contrast to Medvedev's last two appearances at the tournament, when he suffered first-round losses in 2020 to Vasek Pospisil and in 2021 to Dusan Lajovic.
Medvedev said after his win: "Thanks to all members of my team who are with me no matter what: some tough moments, some good moments, and we continue growing.
"The last two times I played here were terrible, and I'm happy to make it better this year."
Medvedev and Sinner's past meetings had curiously all come on indoor hard courts, as this also did.
Sinner won a title last week at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, so the 21-year-old was not wanting for confidence as he looked to finally register a win over Medvedev.
The Italian out-rallied Medvedev at the end of the first set to snatch the vital break, but he could not ride that momentum into the early stages of the second.
An early break went the way of 2021 US Open winner Medvedev, whose remarkable defence was a key factor as the comeback gathered steam.
A double fault from Sinner handed Medvedev a 4-1 lead and a double break, nudging the match towards the decider.
When it came, first blood went to Medvedev as Sinner netted a backhand to give up a break in the third game.
The Moscow man saved a break point in the next game to stay ahead, and that setback left Sinner sapped, his challenge fading as Medvedev maintained an impressively high level.
In-form world number nine Monfils triumphed at the Montpellier championship the previous Sunday and made it nine straight Tour wins with a 6-2 6-4 success this time.
Canada's Auger-Aliassime, on the other hand, is still waiting for his first senior career title and was never really in the contest as Monfils ended the week without dropping a set.
Playing his fourth Tour final after a trio of 2019 defeats, the 19-year-old made a nervous start and was required to rescue three break points in just the third game after some wayward initial work with the forehand.
Auger-Aliassime merely delayed the setback until his next service game, though, Monfils coming out on top for a 3-2 lead as the pair did battle at the net.
Following a brief Monfils scare, Auger-Aliassime went long when defending a third break opportunity next time out and slipped further behind, allowing the third seed to serve out the opener.
There was no improvement from the Canadian when the match resumed, the second set beginning with a series of errors and a crushing break to love.
Monfils stylishly got the better of an apparently defeated Auger-Aliassime at the net to tee up another three openings, taking the last of them.
The Frenchman stuttered badly when serving for the championship and lost one of his breaks as Auger-Aliassime belatedly rallied, but the victory was eventually sealed.
The Frenchman, winner of the Open sud de France last week, made it seven wins in a row by overcoming Evans in one hour and 52 minutes.
Next up in the last four is Filip Krajinovic, who upset the form book to overcome Andrey Rublev 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.
Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Aljaz Bedene and will face Pablo Carreno Busta, who needed three sets to see off Jannik Sinner, in the other semi-final.
The three-time grand slam champion withdrew from the Australian Open after suffering the injury during last year's Davis Cup Finals.
Murray, 32, was expected to play at the Open Sud de France and Rotterdam Open next month, but announced on Thursday he would not be ready to return.
"The bone bruising is taking longer to heal than first thought," former world number one Murray told UK media.
"So I won't be playing in Montpellier or Rotterdam in February.
"I don't want to rush anything or put a timeline on my recovery, I'm going to listen to my body and step back on the court to compete when the time is right."
After a hip injury threatened to end his career, Murray returned in the second half of last year and won the ATP Tour title in Antwerp in October.
The world number two was scheduled to represent Spain in next week's tournament at Rotterdam Ahoy but has been replaced by Reilly Opelka of the United States.
Twenty-time grand slam winner Nadal has been struggling with a lower back injury and was also forced to pull out of Spain's ATP Cup ties this month.
The 34-year-old was cleared to take part in the Australian Open, where he did not drop a set before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.
However, Nadal has still not fully recovered from the issue and will now miss another event.
Organisers of the ATP 500 tournament confirmed the news on Thursday and Nadal later took to Twitter to explain the decision.
"It is with great sadness that I have to forfeit from Rotterdam," he said. "As most of the fans know, I suffered some back problems in Australia that started in Adelaide and continued during Melbourne.
"We found a temporary solution that allowed me to play without pain in the second week of the tournament. Once I got back to Spain I visited my doctor and together with my team they've advised not to play this upcoming week.
"I was really looking forward to coming back to Rotterdam and The Netherlands since it's been a while I played there this was the perfect year for my calendar.
"I hope to come back and play there soon. All the best to the tournament, always a top-class event."
World number three Daniil Medvedev will replace Nadal as the top seed in the Rotterdam tournament, which runs from March 1-7.
Auger-Aliassime won his first Tour-level title at the event last year and went from strength to strength in 2022, winning another three singles trophies.
The world number eight, seeded third, started his title defence with a convincing 6-2 6-3 defeat of Italy's Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday.
"Of course, I was hoping to win and get through, but 6-2, 6-3 is a great performance against a player that is tricky like he is... it's a great way to start the week," said Auger-Aliassime, who needed just 82 minutes to clinch victory and set up a last-16 meeting with qualifier Gregoire Barrere.
The Canadian is relishing his title defence, and feels he is a stronger competitor than this time last year in a warning shot to his rivals.
He added: "Last year was an amazing year, but this year is a different one. I think I'm a better player overall.
"Of course, the best thing I can do compared to last year is win again, so hopefully I can do that. The draw is really strong, but I'm confident if I can keep playing the way I did today I'll get my chances and then we'll see."
Auger-Aliassime might be the reigning champion, but world number three Tsitsipas is the favourite.
Emil Ruusuvuori was no match for Australian Open runner-up, who prevailed 7-5 6-1 and has a 13-1 record for the season.
"The process that you get to repeat these things over and over again, it gives you tremendous understanding of how things actually work," Tsitsipas said.
"I think being able to get in these moments more and more often on the Tour helps you understand, makes you wiser when you're trying to deal with all these problems."
Tsitsipas, who could face Open Sud de France champion Jannik Sinner in the next round, ensured there would be no curse of the top seed in Rotterdam, where the favourite had lost their first match in two of the last three editions.
On both occasions (2020 and 2021), that was Medvedev, but the former world number one fought from a set down to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6 6-2 6-2.
World number 10 Hubert Hurkacz also had to battle against a Spaniard in the form of Roberto Bautista Agut. The fifth seed needed three hours to win 7-5 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-4) and tee up an encounter with Grigor Dimitrov.
Alexander Zverev defeated Soonwoo Kwon in straight sets to book his progress, while Gijs Brouwer got the better of Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Tsitsipas has himself enjoyed a fine start to the year, reaching the semis of the Australian Open, but it was Rublev who progressed to the final in more routine fashion than might have been expected.
He prevailed 6-3 7-6 (7-2), marking his 12th win from 13 matches this season.
The victory also extended his winning streak in ATP 500 matches to 19. Only Roger Federer (28) and Andy Murray (21) have produced longer such runs.
"[I play tennis] to play at the best level, to play at the best tournaments, to try to compete, then to go deep and to try to win them," Rublev said in an on-court interview. "A final is always special, so I am going to try to do my best tomorrow [Sunday]."
Rublev is likely to require his best given the form Marton Fucsovics, his opponent, is in.
Fucsovics came through qualifying to reach the main draw and delivered a superb performance to stun world number 26 Borna Coric 6-4 6-1.
The final will be the third of Fucsovics' career and his first since February 2019, when he lost to Rublev's Russian compatriot Daniil Medvedev at the Sofia Open.
Second seed Rublev won this event two years ago but there will be no such run this time around after his 6-4 6-4 loss on Wednesday.
De Minaur broke the world number five early in each set and sealed the win at the first time of asking, moving to a 3-0 head-to-head record against Rublev on hard courts.
The Australian will face Maxime Cressy in the next round, who bounced back from his Open Sud de France final defeat by beating Tim van Rijthoven.
Jannik Sinner saw off Cressy in that Montpellier showdown and the Italian carried that form into this tournament, though he needed three sets to overcome Benjamin Bonzi.
Frenchman Bonzi forced a decider but Sinner regained his composure in the final set to prevail 6-2 3-6 6-1 and set up a heavyweight clash with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
There was no such progress for Alexander Zverev, who joined Rublev in suffering an early exit.
The German came unstuck 4-6 6-3 6-4 to home favourite Tallon Griekspoor, whose four wins over top-20 opponents have all come in Rotterdam.
Stan Wawrinka, the champion in 2015 and runner-up four years later, will face the winner of that tie, after he beat Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
Holger Rune reached the semi-finals in Montpellier, and like Sinner the fourth seed progressed into round two, claiming a routine straight-sets victory over qualifier Constant Lestienne.
"It was tricky. It's a lot about finding the rhythm here in the beginning of the tournament and first match you have to really be on your toes, especially I played a qualifier today who already has two matches in his bag," Rune said.
"It made it more difficult, but I'm happy how I handled every situation today."
Hubert Hurkacz was another seed to fall out, with the world number 10 going down 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) to Grigor Dimitrov.
Medvedev – the 2019 US Open finalist – was playing his first match since a five-set defeat to Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open but was unable to find the same level he produced in that thriller.
Instead, Medvedev converted just one of his six break point opportunities as Pospisil claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory on Wednesday.
Sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut was also on the receiving end of a surprise result, compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta winning 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-4) in the second round.
With Medvedev and Bautista Agut out of the draw, Felix Auger-Aliassime can afford to harbour greater hope of winning his first ATP singles title after he saw off Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2.
Though Auger-Aliassime is a place higher in the rankings than Dimitrov at 21st in the world, some may have expected the Bulgarian's greater experience to win out.
However, it was the 19-year-old Canadian who controlled matters, enjoying great success against the second serve of Dimitrov, who committed 27 unforced errors as Auger-Aliassime progressed to the quarter-finals.
Daniel Evans will join him in the last eight after the Briton defied the odds to come from a set down and defeat Karen Khachanov 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Gael Monfils, David Goffin and Gilles Simon all sealed first-round wins, though the latter pair did so in unconvincing fashion.
While third seed Monfils eased past Joao Sousa 6-3 6-2, fourth seed Goffin had to come from behind to knock out Robin Haase 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 and Simon survived a second-set blip in a 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-3 win over Mikhail Kukushkin.
Jannik Sinner is also through to round two, the 18-year-old given a walkover after Radu Albot withdrew with a shoulder injury.
After top seed Daniil Medvedev departed the competition a day earlier, Tsitsipas and David Goffin - seeded second and fourth respectively - each suffered upsets to blow the bottom half of the draw wide open.
Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene recorded the biggest win of his career as he cut down Tsitsipas in straight sets, his second triumph over a top-10 player clinched by a 7-5 6-4 scoreline.
"I tried to stay focused, and I delivered," Bedene said shortly after a stunning winner down the line saw him successfully serve out for the match.
"I actually served really well when it was important and kept my cool really, because I was feeling that he [Tsitsipas] was pressuring sometimes.
"I had to stay focused and cool and play my shots, and I delivered. I'm happy with that."
The world number 52 saved five break points in the opener before claiming his first opportunity, and he conceded: "I think he [Tsitsipas] was probably the better player for most of the first set.
"He was serving really well, and I didn't play my game - especially on his service points. I stayed tough, which I had to do, otherwise it would go the other way. I guess the break gave me a boost of confidence."
Bedene will play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, with the winner potentially meeting NextGen champion Sinner - matched with Pablo Carreno Busta - in the last four.
Sinner, still just 18, came up with 27 winners to see off 10th-ranked Goffin 7-6 (9-7) 7-5.
"I feel great, especially now in this moment," the Italian said, according to quotes on the ATP Tour website. "It was not easy playing against him. He is very solid, so you sometimes go for a winner or change the rhythm.
"It feels like a normal victory, but sometimes you play better than others. It's all about improving and testing where you are."
Reigning champion Gael Monfils prolonged his title defence, beating countryman Gilles Simon 6-4 6-1.
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev also advanced, while Vasek Pospisil could not build on his shock defeat of Medvedev, going down 6-4 7-6 (9-7) to Filip Krajinovic.
Tsitsipas lost the opening set to Hubert Hurkacz and also slipped 2-0 behind in the second, yet he dropped only two further games as he progressed 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-1.
The world number six, who had failed to register a victory in his previous appearances at the tournament, moves on to face Aljaz Bedene, a 6-2 6-4 winner against Benoit Paire.
Andrey Rublev, the seventh seed aiming to win a third title already in 2020, wasted little time in reaching the last 16, dismissing Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2 6-3 in under an hour.
Next up for Rublev will be Alexander Bublik, who came through a tense three-set battle against French qualifier Gregoire Barrere.
Fognini, meanwhile, lost in straight sets to Karen Khachanov, the Russian converting four of the seven break-point opportunities that came his way against the fifth-seeded Italian.
Felix Auger-Aliassime lost five straight games in the second set against Jan-Lennard Struff but eventually prevailed in a decider, his 6-3 1-6 6-3 victory booking a clash with 2018 runner-up Grigor Dimitrov.
In the final match of the day, Filip Krajinovic defeated home wildcard Tallon Griekspoor 6-4 6-1.
