I’m not ready for this says tearful Murray
ANDY MURRAY yesterday spoke of his frustration at being forced into retirement before he is ready.
And Britain’s former world No1 joked he would never replicate the highs and lows of winning Wimbledon or losing finals in his new life – unless he took “certain substances”.
Murray, the two-time Wimbledon champion, said he wanted to end his career at SW19 but the fierce pain in his right hip could force him to quit after the Australian Open. He plays Spanish world No23 Roberto Bautista Agut here on Monday.
“I don’t think I will fill that void when I retire,” said Murray, 31, who broke down in tears at a press
conference in the early hours of Friday morning, when he announced his career was close to an end.
“You can’t – well, maybe you can by taking certain substances. But you cannot recreate the high of winning Wimbledon or winning a Davis Cup.
“As much as the lows of losing here for a fifth time hurt, I always had that as a motivation. Even in the low points, it was something that gave me drive to get up and work hard. I don’t anticipate being able to replace that. Maybe when I finish I will be happy, living a more stable life.”
In addition to his double Wimbledon glory, Murray won two Olympic gold medals, the US Open and the
Davis Cup, becoming world No1 in 2016 – the only Briton to hold that honour. He was also knighted in the 2017 New Year’s honours for services to tennis and charity.
But Murray is frustrated at being forced out by a hip injury that started causing him problems in 2017 and on which he had an operation 12 months ago.
The Wimbledon retirement planning has been accelerated since arriving Down Under, with Murray admitting he felt “helpless” facing Novak Djokovic in a warm-up match this week.
After his dramatic press conference, Murray returned to the media centre to elaborate on his losing battle with pain, as a news ticker announced the breaking story on a TV above his head.
“This decision was made in December,” he said. “I practised with
You feel helpless, it sucks
Fernando Verdasco a few times, and on the third day I was playing practice sets and my hip was hurting and I was in pain.
“I had tears in my eyes and said, ‘My hip is killing me, I shouldn’t be continuing to go through that for nothing any more’. As the practice went on, it was getting worse.
“The same sequence is happening – as soon as I start to increase my tennis load and compete and play matches, the pain gets worse and my performance drops and I have to take a rest for a few days.
“There have been points through the last year where I had spoken about stopping. I was in too much pain, I wasn’t enjoying it. It didn’t feel like the surgery had worked. I had been advised things can improve after a year to 18 months. I told my team, ‘This is it, I need to know when this is over’.” Murray’s preparations for the Australian Open have served only to bring home those problems, particularly in Thursday’s practice match against world No1 Djokovic.
The two former teenage rivals have played four finals in Melbourne – with the Serb winning every one – but this time it was no contest as a limping Murray was able to hold his serve only once.
“I don’t always play that well in practice and I don’t go in expecting to win against someone like Novak,” he said.
“It has nothing to do with the result of the practice; it’s the feeling that I had during the practice. You just kind of feel helpless on the court and it’s just... it sucks.”