Andy Murray is back in Melbourne to write a perhaps final chapter in his Australian Open story after admitting last season was “rubbish”. The Scot has lost five finals here – including four to Novak Djokovic – and announced his likely retirement in 2019 before his second hip operation.
Now the end of his fabled career is even closer and every defeat will be accompanied by questions about how long he will go on. Wimbledon – or the Paris Olympics – are obvious farewell events.
But even the double Olympic champion, who has returned to the world’s top 50 with a metal hip, seems uncertain about his future.
Murray, who turns 37 in May, admitted he was “not really enjoying” his tennis after ending last season with a frustrating loss in Paris. But he arrived Down Under stating he still loves tennis and had no plans to retire. “I’m still loving the training and the travel and everything,” he said.
Yet before losing in the first round at the Brisbane International, he told the BBC: “We’ll see how the year goes, see how the body holds up. If things are going well, I’d love to keep going. But if they’re not, and I’m not enjoying it, it could be the last year, yes.”
Like Rafa Nadal, goodbye seems to be the hardest word. The Scot prepared for his 16th Australian Open by losing 6-3 7-5 to Marin Cilic at the Kooyong Classic on Wednesday. He will again be unseeded so could get a top seed in the first round.
Murray saw off No.14 seed Matteo Berrettini here last year before finally beating Thanasi Kokkinakis at 4.05pm and then losing in the third round. “I don’t really think the Australian Open owes me one, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve had great moments here. I’ve played some of my best tennis here and unfortunately in the finals that I played against Novak, they certainly weren’t easy matches to win.”
Asked if getting closer to the end of his career made playing harder, the injury-dogged world No.44 responded: “Well, you could argue for me that was the case last year, but I was also playing rubbish and when you’re not playing well, it’s not as easy to win matches. When you’re playing well, if you’re confident in your game, it becomes easier. If you’ve been a top player playing the highest level of the game and then your rankings drops and you’re probably not winning as many matches and you get in those situations, you probably don’t cope with them as well.
“But let’s see. “I hope that I do better than last year. I felt like because I was not serving well, when it came serving for matches, I was not getting many free points, ending up in long rallies. Just not feeling comfortable on the court. So hopefully with some improved serving and feeling a bit better about my game, when I put myself in those situations, it goes well.
So hopefully with a few improvements and feeling a bit better, I can certainly challenge the top players.”
