Murray retiring due to injury would be the worst possible ending
THERE are a few different ways retirement can come for an athlete. The perfect exit is to be able to go out on your own terms, at a time of your choosing, when you feel you have achieved everything you want to in your sport.
Then there are those who retire because they are just not good enough anymore. They might still be able to compete, but as winning becomes less and less frequent, they decide it’s time to call it a day.
Then there’s the worst-case scenario: being forced to retire through injury. At the best of times, sporting careers are usually short, so when they end prematurely it can be devastating.
It is this scenario that Andy Murray is facing now.
During his third-round loss in Miami to Tomas Machac last week, Murray injured his ankle.
“Towards the end of my match in Miami I suffered a full rupture of my ATFL [anterior talofibular ligament] and near full thickness rupture of my CFL [calcaneofibular ligament],” he wrote on social media. “Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I’ll be out for an extended period.”
He then added he would be back in action when he regains fitness.
So, despite what must be a hugely demoralising setback – reports have suggested he could be out for up to a year – Murray clearly feels he has the drive and commitment to go through the weeks upon weeks of rehab that will be required for him to return to full fitness.
We shouldn’t be surprised. Over the past few years, it’s become increasingly apparent that Murray has been reluctant to even contemplate retirement.
A serious injury in 2019, which resulted in surgery to have a metal hip, would have been a sign for most that it was time to call it a day. But not Murray.
The former Wimbledon champion has battled ridiculously hard to return from that potentially careerending injury and, until recently, refused to countenance any talk of retirement. Last month, he finally caved to the incessant questioning about when his career will end, revealing he was “unlikely to play past this summer”, but that information was only given after he admitted he was sick of being constantly asked when he was going to call it quits.
It’s clear, then, that retirement is not a prospect Murray is relishing.
Few athletes do. Overnight, retirement means the loss of routine, loss of structure and, often, the loss of purpose in one’s life.
In Murray’s case, he will also lose the adrenaline rush that comes with stepping out into an arena to do battle, metaphorically, with another man with tens of thousands watching on. Nothing replaces that feeling.
If retirement happens on an athlete’s own terms, it’s just about bearable. Roger Federer, not surprisingly, has led the way in terms of farewells. The 20-time Grand Slam champion’s results had been flailing for several years before he finally hung up his racquet for good but his final swansong was as close to a fairy tale as any athlete can get.
In the Laver Cup, an exhibition team event between Europe and the rest of the world which Federer himself founded, the Swiss former world No.1 played doubles alongside his greatest rival, Rafa Nadal. This was followed by a video montage, full of people extolling his greatness, being played to the crowd while Federer and Nadal held hands and watched on in tears.
Even the greatest scriptwriter couldn’t have penned a more perfect send-off.
But for every heartwarming tale of retirement, there are dozens, nay hundreds, that are on the other end of the spectrum.
Every good performance convinces Murray that he still has it in him to challenge the best. If he is forced to bow out with that fire still burning within him, it will make the process of retirement so much harder
Murray, while a distinctly different personality type from Federer, was surely aiming for something closer to the Swiss’s valediction than the hundreds of others who limp away from their sport after being struck down by injury.
The real challenge of retiring due to injury is the complete absence of closure.
Retirement from elite sport is tricky at the best of times. There are few other careers which end with the individual well under the age of 40 – in most cases – and staring at a gaping abyss in their lives. And it is an abyss that’s unlikely to be fully filled by anything else.
But walking away from your career is much more bearable doing it on your own terms. It is so much more difficult to cope with when your career is snatched away.
This is what Murray’s now facing, just at a time when he was producing some of his best form, post metal hip. After his impressive first-round win over former world No.6 Matteo Berrettini in Miami, Murray wrote “life in the old dog yet” on the camera lens in a clear dig at those who were urging him to call time on his career.
To prove his point, he then beat world No.30 Tomas Etcheverry before suffering his ankle injury in the next round.
It’s these glimpses of form that would make it so cruel if he is not able to return to the court.
Every good performance convinces Murray that he still has it in him to challenge the world’s best.
If he is forced to bow out with that fire still burning within him, it will make the process of retirement so much harder.
This doesn’t mean Murray won’t be able to deal with the ramifications of retirement – there are few people with four young kids, as he has, who would find it hard to fill their days – but coming to terms with the loss of his career, especially if it comes prematurely, will likely be challenging.
Murray has proved that he can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, but being forced to retire due to injury might just be the toughest challenge of all.