Murray is currently winless in 2024 and has gone 1-9 in his last 10 matches, with his latest victory coming in October. The 36-year-old has been forced to shut down retirement chat in recent days, stating: “I won’t quit” and confirming that he still loved competing. And his comments will be music to Henman’s ears, as the former British No. 1 supported Murray’s decision to keep playing.
“While obviously he has the energy and the enthusiasm and the hunger and desire and motivation to keep on playing, he should keep playing,” the former No. 4 told Express Sport. “A professional tennis player is the best job in the world and trust me, there’s plenty of time to be retired in the future.”
Henman understood why it was frustrating for Murray to find himself in the middle of a six-match losing streak but he backed his compatriot to rediscover his winning ways. The new Sky Sports pundit continued: “He wants a return on his investment and he hasn’t had that recently because he’s been working as hard as ever and he hasn’t got the wins.
“But most importantly he has the belief that the wins will come. So as long as he wants to keep playing, I absolutely support that. And he’s earned the right to do that.” Knowing the work Murray had put in behind the scenes, Henman shared his wish to see it pay off after watching the 36-year-old lose a few close matches despite playing well.
“And he doesn’t want to be at these tournaments losing first round, he’s as motivated as he’s ever been and what he’s been able to do with a metal hip is amazing,” he added. “So I really hope that he can get some wins under his belt because there were plenty of times last year where I thought that he was playing some really good tennis.
“And I thought Wimbledon was a classic example of that. I thought he was very unlucky against [Stefanos] Tsitsipas to be up two sets to one and have to come back the next day. And so I really hope that he can have a change of fortune and get some wins.”
Comparing him to fellow three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka, she continued: “He’s still ranked pretty high as well, this is what I feel like people don’t necessarily get is that he’s actually doing well. Maybe not these standout results you would expect from someone who’s won as many Slams as him but at the same time, Stan Wawrinka is in a very similar position.
“And I felt like no one’s really asking when he’s going to retire and that line of questioning doesn’t really come up as much for whatever reason. So I feel like Andy has got a lot of life left in him and I think he’s got a tournament in mind that he’s hoping to stop at but that pathway changes constantly.”
Henman and Robson were speaking ahead of the launch of the new Sky Sports Tennis channel, going live on February 11. “I think in terms of the channel it’s just going to be great that you can have something where you can just put it on throughout the day, watch in the background if there’s not a match that’s quite as exciting to you. The way that you’d sit and watch other sports basically. To have that on all day, every day is what I can’t wait to do at home,” Robson said.
Sky Sports Tennis – the new home for tennis fans – launches on 11 February on Sky and NOW.
