Murray deserves better than this painful farewell
GREAT MUST RETIRE ON OWN TERMS
ANDY MURRAY facing a race against time to be fit for Wimbledon seems like a familiar story.
But this time, in his planned final season, it has a new poignancy.
Because screaming in agony on an outside court at the Miami Open before losing to the world No.60 is no way for one of the greats of modern tennis to say goodbye.
The former world No.1 had admitted earlier this month that he will “likely not play past this summer” when his last event was set to be Wimbledon or playing doubles at the Paris Olympics.
Late on Monday night UK time, he posted on Instagram that he had ruptured two ankle ligaments in his defeat by Tomas Machac and would be out for “an extended period”.
Murray, who is the world No.62 and turns 37 in May, will now return to London and see an ankle specialist to get a more detailed diagnosis.
He had been scheduled to play next at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which kicks off the clay-court season on April 6, before a final French Open in May.
His best hope now appears a return for the grass-court season to build up to the start of Wimbledon on July 1.
Last year Murray played – and won – Challenger events in Nottingham and Surbiton before Queen’s.
All predictions and permutations are up in the air for now. What is certain is that this knight of the realm, a three-time Grand Slam event champion and double Olympic gold medallist, deserves to go out on his own terms.
But it is difficult for top stars to time their retirement.The longer you leave it, the less control you have.
Pete Sampras never played again after his then record 14th Grand Slam event title at the 2002 US Open at the age of 31.
Roger Federer lost his final set 6-0 to Hubert Hurkacz in the 2021 Wimbledon quarterfinals, aged 39, in what proved his final appearance at a Major.
The All England Club, where Murray became the first British male singles winner for 77 years in 2013, would have been the logical place to play his final match. But the Paris Olympics are later in July and that was also a possibility.
Murray is famously indecisive. He pulled out of Wimbledon in 2007 late on Sunday evening with a wrist injury and also withdrew late in 2018 because he did not feel ready to compete. In 2019, he played the men’s and mixed doubles – with Serena Williams – at SW19 and no singles.
He has made miracle recoveries before and returned to win on the ATP Tour in October 2019 following hip surgery the previous January.
As you get older, it takes longer to recover. Murray’s stubbornness and sheer will to win are much greater than even his indecisiveness. Ahead of the Australian Open in January, he said: “One of the reasons why I’ve been able to get back to the level that I’ve got to is because my brain probably works differently to most people.”
If not this summer, Murray could return next year and take a final Wimbledon wild card in 2025 on the 20th anniversary of his first appearance as a wobbly teenager.
That would be a proper farewell.