Andy Murray has provided insight into his current mindset over potential retirement from tennis after admitting the cramp he regularly experiences is a ‘big concern’. Similar issues once again thwarted the 35-year-old in the deciding set as Cameron Norrie dumped him out of the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday.
Murray started well in the all-British last-32 clash, taking the opening set 6-3. But the nation’s number one, a mantle he once boasted, battled back, taking the second set by the same score before profiting from blatant Murray discomfort to triumph 6-4 in the third.
Murray has somewhat exceeded longevity expectations by still playing three-and-a-half years later after overcoming retirement fears when he had serious hip surgery after the 2019 Australian Open. And in his post-match press conference, after frustrating niggles impacted another performance, Murray opened up about when he could step away from the court for good.
He told reporters: “It’s a difficult one. Obviously, when I had the injury problems a few years ago and didn’t know whether I was going to be able to play, I maybe always envisaged finishing my career in the UK or whatever.
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“But when I played that match against Bautista [in the first round of the 2019 Australian Open, losing in five sets], I said to my team, if that was it and I don’t get to play again, I was more than happy with that being my last match, because, yeah, it was [an] amazing atmosphere, it was a great match.
“I thought right to the end until I could basically hardly walk at the end and left everything out on the court. It would have been fine if that was how it finished. I think when you announce that you’re retiring, I would imagine, psychologically, it’s quite difficult, as well.
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“There is a lot of pressure then, I think, as well, because you want to perform because it’s the last couple of tournaments… just the whole situation puts a lot of stress on the performance. So I don’t know. I don’t really know, to be honest. Don’t know whether I would announce something or whether I would just stop, and that would be it. I don’t know.”
As a former world number one and two-time Wimbledon champion, Murray will be remembered as one of Britain’s all-time sporting greats after calling it quits. His other Grand Slam came in the 2012 US Open, and he is set to take his place at Flushing Meadows again for the season’s final major.
