Aussie Open likely Murray’s swan song
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA Andy Murray is still hoping to make it to one more Wimbledon before his problematic hip forces him into retirement. For now, he’s only committing to the Australian Open.
In an emotional news conference Friday, when a tearful Murray had to leave the room shortly after his first attempt and needed to pause several times to compose himself once it resumed, he confirmed he’d play his first-round match at the Australian Open next week, but wasn’t sure how much longer he could continue beyond that.
The 31-year-old Murray said he practised in the off-season with the main goal of making one last run at Wimbledon, where he ended the 77-year drought for British men with his title in 2013, but now wasn’t sure he’d make it that far.
“I can still play to a level, not a level I’m happy playing at,” he said. “But also, it’s not just that. The pain is too much, really.
“I don’t want to continue playing that way. I tried pretty much everything that I could to get it right. That hasn’t worked.”
The three-time Grand Slam champion will open against No. 22-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut at Melbourne Park, where the season-opening major begins Monday.
He has reached the final five times at the Australian Open but never won. Getting through the first round will be a major achievement in 2019 for the former No. 1-ranked Murray, who has slumped to No. 230 after playing just 12 matches last year following surgery on his right hip in January. He opened the season last week at the Brisbane International, where he won his opening match against James Duckworth, but lost in the second round to Daniil Medvedev, showing visible signs of limping between points and struggling to move freely around court. He had an incomplete practice match against longtime friend and topranked Novak Djokovic on Thursday at Melbourne Park, but won only two games.
Murray has had a celebrated career, breaking long Grand Slam droughts for British men when he won the U.S. Open in 2012 and at Wimbledon the following year, when he was the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the prestigious lawn tennis title. He also became the only player to win consecutive singles gold medals at the Olympics when he won at London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.
Long considered part of the socalled Big Four in men’s tennis with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Murray likely will be the youngest of them to retire after 20 months of trying to deal with his painful hip.
At 37, Federer is in Australia attempting to win the title for the third consecutive year and for a seventh time overall. At 31, top-ranked Djokovic is also trying to win a seventh Australian title. The 32-yearold Nadal is ranked No. 2 and has one Australian Open trophy.