Heartbreak as Murray’s forced to call it quits in Oz

Former world No 1 and our greatest ever sportsman admits defeat in long

AFTER a career full of incredible highs, Andy Murray said last night he had only one major regret as he comes to terms with his impending departure from a sport that has made him a British icon; that he is unable to depart on his own terms.

The hip injury that stifled him in 2017 and required surgery at the start of 2018 has not recovered enough to allow him to play the kind of tennis that enabled him to win three grand slam titles, two Olympic gold medals, the Davis Cup and 45 titles in all.

In a brutally emotional press conference at Melbourne Park yesterday, Murray said the pain had simply become too much to make it worth continuing much longer and that Wimbledon will be his last event, if his body allows him to get that far.

As the enormity of his decision began to sink in last night, Murray admitted that he was most upset that the timing of his retirement had been taken out of his hands.

“At the end of the day, it is only tennis, it’s just a game, whatever,” he began, the emotions still raw after a press conference which had to be halted as he composed himself in an adjacent room. “There is more to life than that.

“For many reasons, it’s been more than that for me. Obviously stopping the way it’s happened doesn’t sit particularly well with me. It’s not how I would want to finish playing.

“I don’t think any athlete wants that, they want to go out when they decide, not have their body telling them that that is the case. That’s the hardest part of it.”

After trying to rest the injury in the second half of 2017, Murray had a minor hip operation at the start of last year, after which he sounded positive that he would be back to competing for the sport’s biggest titles.

But as it was soon apparent, Murray was struggling to move around the court in the way he had done before, and more crucially, was in serious pain, day in, day out.

“I think it would be a lot easier for me if it was a decision that I wanted to take, and my performance wasn’t how I wanted it and I just wasn’t as good as I was before and the young guys are better, therefore challenging for big tournaments and stuff is not possible anymore,” he said.

“But… I don’t want to stop playing tennis just now, I don’t feel ready, the rest of my body feels perfect. That’s the hard thing about it. It’s not like I wake up and my whole body’s sore, and just aching, and it’s too much. It’s just one problem that can’t be fixed. That’s why it’s difficult.”

Murray said he will go ahead and play the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, and that he hopes to finish at Wimbledon, hip-permitting.

But as he discussed in more depth his feelings about stopping and the injury itself, Murray admitted it is possible the Australian Open could even be his last event, if he decides to have hip resurfacing surgery sooner rather than later.

“As somebody who wants to live an active lifestyle, it