Murray hints he’s heading into ‘last few months’ of his career
Medvedev among 1st-round winners at Dubai Championships
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — 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 Championships for his 500th hardcourt 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 on Monday. “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.
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.”
DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Daniil Medvedev opened his title defense at the Dubai Championships on Tuesday 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The top-seeded Medvedev had withdrawn from tournaments in Doha and Rotterdam because of fatigue and a right foot problem following his loss to Sinner at Melbourne Park.
Among other first-round matches Tuesday, No. 4 seed Karen Khachanov beat Luca Van Assche 6-2, 6-3; No. 5 seed Ugo Humbert outlasted Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; and No. 8 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
SUSPENSION: A lowranked American tennis player who competed for the University of North Carolina has been suspended for two years after testing positive for marijuana during an ATP Challenger tournament, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Tuesday.
The ITIA said Casey Kania’s in-competition urine test contained cannabis in August 2023 at Cary, North Carolina, where he lost in the doubles quarterfinals. He is a 21-year-old with a career-high doubles ranking of 1,317th and $482 in career tennis earnings, according to the ATP website.