Andy Murray hints he is close to ‘last few months’ of career after victory in Dubai
Andy Murray has hinted his retirement from tennis is imminent as he discussed his ambitions for the “last few months” of his career.
Murray recorded his second victory of 2024 in Dubai on Monday, coming from a set down to beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the Dubai Championships. It meant he had also recorded 500 hard-court wins, only the fifth player to do so in the Open era. But the 36-year-old admitted the ongoing toll on his body is ever harder to overcome.
“I probably don’t have too long left but I’ll do as best as I can these last few months,” he said after the match. “I still love competing and still love the game but it gets harder and harder to compete the older you get, to keep your body fit and fresh.”
Of the hard-court record, Murray said: “Obviously hard courts have been a great surface for me over the years and 500 is a lot of matches. So yeah, I’m very proud of that. It’s great to get that before I’m done.”
Reading the tea leaves on Murray’s career has proven an ongoing challenge in recent years as the two-time Wimbledon champion continued to be beset by fitness and injury concerns, only to come fighting back each time. At the 2019 Australian Open he broke down in tears as he confessed to the pain of playing with a damaged hip and said that tournament could well be his last. Four years and extensive surgery later and Murray was still competing and, this January, he told the Melbourne Park crowd: ‘It’s a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here.”
Since then Murray went on to win in the opening round of the Doha Open last week, but was beaten by the 18year-old Jakub Mensik in the second round. During the defeat he was reported to have shouted to his box: “This game is not for me any more.”
Asked about those remarks following his defeat of Shapovalov, Murray said: “People read a lot into what I say on court. Sometimes it’s not always rational but everyone asks me about it [retirement] all the time anyway. So yeah look, I obviously still love competing, I still love the game.”
Murray will face either the fifth seed, Ugo Humbert, or wildcard Gaël Monfils in the second round in Dubai.