- Andy Murray retirement could come with the completion of the 2024 ATP Tour calendar
- Still, Murray remains driven and is dedicated to his training
- His performance declined during the clay-court season
Andy Murray retirement could come with the completion of the 2024 ATP Tour calendar, Tim Henman says.
Still, Murray remains driven and is dedicated to his training as he prepares for the upcoming 2024 tennis season.
In 2023, the three-time Grand Slam winner had a varied season, starting strong with impressive victories at the Australian Open and reaching the Qatar Open final.
However, his performance declined during the clay-court season. Despite the setbacks, Murray turned things around on the ATP Challenger Tour, securing consecutive grass court titles that propelled him back into the top 40 of the ATP Rankings.
Nonetheless, he faced challenges at Wimbledon, the US Open, the Asian swing, and the European indoor campaign, ultimately concluding the year at No. 42.
Andy Murray Retirement
Andy Murray. Photo/Sky Sports
After his last competition of the year at the Paris Masters, the British tennis star openly disclosed a disheartening reality.
He said that he doesn’t find any joy on the court from his performance adding that his biggest undertaking was to rediscover himself.
“I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing. The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not much positivity there,” Murray stated.
It is this pronouncement that raised eyebrows on his retirement. Henman, a former British No. 1 player, believes retirement is imminent for 37-year-old Murray.
He says that Murray had a bad attitude this season which indicated that he was not enjoying it at all.
When asked by Eurosport if 2024 would be Murray’s final year as a professional, he said that he is positive it could be.
However, he added that Murray is still very active on the court, nevertheless.
“I think it might be. I don’t know. He’s the only one that really knows that. But look, he’s still so motivated. I’ve seen him practising at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton,” he said.
Henman said that each tennis player has a special feeling of enjoying the game and if this is absent; it means their time is up.
“At this stage of his career, you want him to be out there not only having some good results but enjoying himself. He’s not going to be playing professional tennis forever.
“I think for me, the wish list for Andy Murray is for him to play well and have some good wins and enjoy himself. So, yeah, fingers crossed,” he added.
Andy Murray Tennis Career
Murray will be hoping to not only reclaim his form early in 2024 after a miserable 2023 season but also to rediscover the joy he once again felt from playing.
From conquering the “Big Three” to battling debilitating injuries, his career has been a captivating narrative of grit, reinvention, and an enduring love for the sport.
Murray’s rise to the top was meteoric. Turning professional at 15, he quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with, his two-handed backhand and relentless hustle becoming his trademarks.
Andy Murray. Photo/Sky NEws
In 2008, he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, a feat repeated at the Australian Open in 2010 and 2011.
But the ultimate prize, a Grand Slam title, seemed tantalizingly out of reach, often overshadowed by the dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
The year 2012 marked a turning point. Partnering with the legendary Ivan Lendl, Murray adopted a more aggressive approach, shedding his “nice guy” image and embracing his competitive fire. It paid off handsomely.
He captured his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, followed by Olympic gold in London, silencing doubters and proving his place among the sport’s elite.
The following years saw Murray scale even greater heights. In 2013, he ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon champion, lifting the trophy on Centre Court amidst rapturous cheers. A second Wimbledon title followed in 2016, further cementing his legacy as a national hero.
But like the unpredictable nature of the game itself, Murray’s journey was not without its setbacks. A string of hip injuries in 2017 and 2018 threatened to derail his career.
Forced to undergo multiple surgeries, he plummeted in the rankings, facing the daunting prospect of early retirement.
However, the champion in Murray refused to surrender. He embarked on a gruelling comeback by embracing new training methods and a revised playing style.
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