Murray hints his career end is near

Andy Murray hinted he is heading into the “last few months” of his career after rallying past Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the Dubai (UAE) Championships for his 500th hard-court win.

“I obviously still love competing and still love the game, but it obviously gets harder and harder the older you get to compete with the young guys and keep your body fit and fresh,” the 36-year-old Murray said in an on-court interview after his first-round win. “I probably don't have too long left, but I'll do as best as I can these last few months.”

Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion playing with an artificial hip, has considered retirement before. This was only his second win of the year.

After losing in straight sets to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round of the Australian Open last month, Murray said it might be the last time he enters the season's first major.

Murray improved to 18-5 for his career in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2017. He'll next face Ugo Humbert or Gael Monfils.

The only other players with 500 hard-court wins in the Open Era are Roger Federer (783), Novak Djokovic (700), Andre Agassi (592) and Rafael Nadal (518).

“Obviously hard court has been a great surface for me over the years and 500 is a lot of matches so I'm very proud of that,” Murray said. “There are not many players that have done that, so great to get to 500 before I'm done.”

Daniil Medvedev opened his title defense in Dubai by beating Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 7-5 in his first match since losing the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner. The top-seeded Medvedev had withdrawn from tournaments in Doha and Rotterdam because of fatigue and a right foot problem following his loss to Sinner at Melbourne Park.