He has been a top mentor and my biggest role model: Edmund
KYLE Edmund led the tributes to his “biggest role model” after Andy Murray announced his intention to retire.
At a tearful press conference ahead of the Australian Open, the Scot laid bare the effects of the pain in his right hip that has dogged him for over 18 months.
Murray is hoping to be able to go out on home soil at Wimbledon in the summer but conceded Monday’s match against Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round in Melbourne could be his last.
Murray has played a mentoring role with a number of British players but none more significant than Edmund, who overtook him as the country’s leading player after reaching the semi-finals here 12 months ago.
Edmund said: “For me he’s been my biggest role model. He’s Britain’s greatest tennis player ever and you could say maybe Britain’s best sportsman ever.
“To be able to have had the experiences I’ve had with him and memories in terms of training with him and getting to know him and seeing what he’s done on the court and achieved, he’s definitely helped my career.
“It’s not nice that he’s going to be retiring but, at the same time, it’s a nice way to reflect on his career and seeing what he’s achieved. It’s been amazing.”
British No.1 female Johanna Konta saying: “I can’t imagine the sport without him. He has just been there all the time.”
Murray’s support for women and the women’s game was also appreciated by Konta, who said: “There have been so many examples of when he has stood up for us — not just for women’s tennis but women in general.
“He has also been blessed with two daughters and I think he’s grown up with a really strong female role model with his mum and now his wife is also a strong character so he is surrounded by great, strong women.
“I think everybody has always been very appreciative of him.”
Billie Jean King added her tribute, writing on Twitter: “You are a champion on and off the court. So sorry you cannot retire on your own terms, but remember to look to the future. Your greatest impact on the world may be yet to come. Your voice for equality will inspire future generations. Much love to you and your family.”
Grigor Dimitrov said: “For sure he will be missed. He’s been a great friend above everything. I really wish him the best.”
Juan Martin Del Potro, who can empathise more than most with Murray’s injury struggles, wrote on Twitter: “Keep fighting. I can imagine your pain and sadness. You deserve to retire on your own terms, whenever that happens. We love you.”
ANDY Murray admitted after announcing his impending retirement here in Melbourne yesterday that he had felt “helpless” on the court during his Australian Open practice match against Novak Djokovic 24 hours earlier.
Djokovic was leading 6-1 4-1 when the match finished because they had run out of time, but Murray said it was not the score that had concerned him.
“It was the feeling that I had during the practice, of how I’m able to play like I am in the state that I’m in,” Murray said. “You just feel helpless on the court — and it sucks.
“I’ve played I don’t know how many hours of tennis against Novakhereovertheyears.I haven’t won the matches, but most of them have been really tough, physical matches.
“Although I didn’t win, the competitiveness was always there, but yesterday there was noneofthatandtherewasno feeling of rivalry. I was just not happy with the way I felt on court.”
Murray, who has had hip problems for several years, has struggled to recover from the injury he suffered two summers ago at the French Open. He had surgery on his right hip here last January, but has continued to experience pain throughout his rehabilitation.
It was after playing a practice match against Fernando Verdasco during his training camp in Miami last month that Murray told his team that he could not continue in such a state indefinitely and would aim to finish his career at Wimbledon this summer.
Murray said that he had still been in pain throughout his comeback matches last summer but had hoped that he would feel better after a lengthy period of rehabilitation in Philadel- phia in the autumn.
“Then I went to Miami and the hope was that after a period of rehab and then progressively building up to playing practice matches against good players, I would be in a better place,” he said.
“On the third day I was playing practice sets and my hip was hurting and I was in pain. As the practice went on, it was getting worse.
“I was like, ‘I can’t do this. What am I doing this for?’ The same sequence is happening: as soon as I start to increase my tennis load and competing and playing matches, the pain gets worse and my performance dropsandIhavetotakearest for a few days. The same thing was happening. It was enough.
“I had tears in my eyes and said, ‘My hip is killing me. I shouldn’t be continuing to go through that for nothing any more’.”
Murray had decided last month to make this summer’s Wimbledon his farewell tournament but now admits that he might not play again after the Australian Open, which begins here on Monday morning.
The Scot admitted there had been other times during the year when he had talked about quitting.
“I was in too much pain, I wasn’t enjoying it,” he said. “It didn’t feel like the surgery had worked. I had been advised after having the hip operation that things can improve after up to a year to 18 months.
“In terms of the surgery, I was advised, ‘Wait and see how that goes’. When I went off to Philadelphia and did different rehab it helped and improved things to a point in terms of my function and things I was able to do, but my hip doesn’t recover from matches or training any more.
“In Brisbane last week I felt okay in the first match: not amazing, just okay. But the next day, I felt quite a bit worse. Obviously, as a tournament goes on, the pain gets worse, so my performance drops. There’s no possibility for me to do well.”
Murray knows that he will need further surgery. “My hip needs to be replaced at some stage,” he said. “It’s badly damaged. But it was also badly damaged before I started having the issues with it. It’s something I’d always managed.
“It was always a feeling for me that this is something I’ve dealt with for a very long time. If I can reduce the pain, it’s something I’ll be able to compete with. I’d always had hip issues, but it just got to a point where it just wouldn’t really improve from there.
“I can’t damage my hip more