Andy Murray reached the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open after entering as defending champion. He was beaten by Milos Raonic in a close three-set match. He was defending champion in the doubles with his brother Jamie. However, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by top seeds Leander Paes and Radek Štěpánek. At the penultimate Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Shanghai, after receiving a bye into round two, Murray's first match was due to be played against Florian Mayer. However, Mayer had to pull out due to injury, giving Murray a walkover into round three. After beating Alexandr Dolgopolov
2013 Andy Murray tennis season than 2012 in the lead up to the French Open, as over-preparation ultimately lead to him aggravating a recurring back injury. Murray entered the grass court season having won 12 of his previous 13 matches on grass, spanning back to last year's Wimbledon, and having not lost since the final. His first tournament after missing the French Open was at the Queen's Club Championships, where he was the top seed. After receiving a first round bye, Murray's first match in the second round pitted him against Nicolas Mahut, who had knocked him out at the same stage the previous year.