Andy won’t retire until a last hurrah at Wimbers
US legend Courier says icon Murray deserves one more shot at SW19
ANDY MURRAY will not retire until he plays at least one more singles match on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, says former world No.1 Jim Courier.
Seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander caused a storm after slamming the Scot for taking a French Open wildcard, suggesting he should consider quitting.
Aussie Nick Kyrgios tweeted, “Shut up Mats, no one cares” in the wake of Murray’s defeat to Stan Wawrinka, the quickest of his Grand Slam career.
The 33-year-old plans to start his indoor season in Cologne on October 12 and then head Down Under in mid-December for the ATP Cup and Australian Open.
And four-time Grand Slam winner Courier said: “I certainly think this isn’t the end of Andy Murray unless he wants it to be.
“It is up to Andy as to how long he wants to play and when he wants to walk off the court.
“For me, this is all about him having the power to decide he will end his career on his terms rather than his hip deciding.
“Is it realistic to think he will play as well as he did before this hip? He certainly doesn’t think so. But there is no reason to say, ‘Get out of here’.
“He can certainly stay as long as he wants, as long as his ranking gets him in the tournaments or as long as tournaments offer him a wildcard. He has every right to be there. It is up to him to figure out when he wants to walk off.
“But I can’t imagine it is going to come before he plays at least one more Wimbledon singles on Centre Court. Let’s not forget – he beat [US Open finalist, Alex] Zverev in Cincinnati. The guy can still play some tennis.
“Let’s not let one bad match cloud our judgment too much.”
Murray admitted he was trying to be calmer on court on Sunday after growing frustrated Stateside, where he beat Yoshihito Nishioka only to be blown away by Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open.
But Anne Keothavong has questioned whether a backroom change is needed for Murray, whose head coach is Jamie Delgado.
The Fed Cup captain said: “They have been incredibly loyal, they have done a great job with him, they have been with him through all the tough times.
“But maybe he needs somebody else to help fire that spark.”
Serena Williams and Rafa Nadal got off to winning starts in their pursuit of history in Paris.
American Williams needed a 74-minute first set before seeing off Kristie Ahn 7-6 6-0 as she bids to equal Margaret Court’s haul of 24 Grand Slam singles crowns.
And 12-time French Open champion Nadal began his campaign to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles by beating Egor Gerasimov 6-4 6-4 6-2.2 US Open champion DDominic Thiem avoided a NNew York hangover as he bebeat Marin Cilic 6-4 6-3 6-3.
But British No.6 Liam BrBroady saw his main-draw debdebut end with a 6-2 5-7 6-3 6-2 loss to Czech Jiri Vesely.