Andy Murray has revealed that his retirement could be near as he does not plan to play beyond this summer. The Brit made the comment immediately after suffering a frustrating defeat to Ugo Humbert in Dubai, where he hit the umpire’s chair with his racket and claimed he felt “awful” on the court.
Murray fuelled retirement speculation on Monday during his on-court interview in Dubai as he said: “I probably don’t have too long left but I’ll do the best I can these last few months.” The three-time Grand Slam champion had previously admitted that he discussed the end of his career with his family and team but had not disclosed any specific plans until now.
Following his 6-2 6-4 defeat to Humbert on Wednesday, the world No. 67 said he was sick of the retirement questions and confirmed that he likely wouldn’t be playing after the summer. Asked to clarify what he said earlier in the week, Murray replied: “Yeah, I mean, I’m likely not going to play past this summer.
“I get asked about it after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play. I’m bored of the question, to be honest. Yeah, I’m not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But yeah, I don’t plan on playing much past this summer.”
It comes after Murray admitted that he wanted to play this year’s Olympics – taking from July 27 to August 4 – which put an end to any suggestions that he would retire at Wimbledon as the tournament concludes on July 14. And the 36-year-old divulged extra details on his schedule for what will be his final summer as a professional tennis player, revealing that he wanted to compete in the French Open.
Asked whether he’d return to Roland Garros for the first time since 2020, Murray added: “Probably, yeah. Last few years I’ve tried to give myself maybe better preparation for the grass season, but that also doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to play really well on the grass.
“I’ve had experiences through my career where I didn’t play the French Open in 2013 and I won Wimbledon. I also played the French Open and did really well in 2016. I don’t think it makes a huge difference if you get an extra week’s practice or so on the grass. So yeah, I would like to play one more time.”
With the Olympic tennis event being staged on the French Open site this year, Murray said his decision to return to the Parisian clay courts was nothing to do with the Games. He continued: “I like the tournament. I like playing at Roland Garros.
“I mean, obviously, yeah, if you want to do well at the Olympics, you probably are going to have to play some tournaments and get matches in on the clay. Yeah, even if the Olympics was not after Wimbledon, I would still want to play it.”
Murray also doubled down on his claims that he wanted to compete in the Olympics one last time as he refused to pick between Wimbledon and the Games. “Look, I mean, in tennis Wimbledon’s – not by everyone, but by a lot of people – it’s considered to be the biggest tournament in the sport,” he said.
A two-time Wimbledon champion and a two-time gold medallist, Murray continued: “Being British, Wimbledon is obviously an extremely special tournament. So I mean I would have to probably say Wimbledon.
“The Olympics, I’d love being part of that. Yeah, it’s been some of the best experiences of my career, being part of the British team. When I got to carry the flag out in Rio, yeah, was amazing, amazing moment. I love sport, so to get the chance to do that for your country was really special.
“So yeah, I mean, I don’t know, both of them are special. I wouldn’t want to necessarily pick one or put one of the others down. I’ve loved my experiences in both.”
Murray did not mention the final Grand Slam tournament of the season – the US Open – but it fits into his summer schedule, taking place from August 26 to September 8. The Brit won his maiden Grand Slam title there in 2012.
