Andy Murray ‘might be’ retiring in 2024 claims Tim Henman
Andy Murray is gearing up to play his 20th season on the ATP Tour, which former British No.1 Tim Henman believes could be the last of his career.
Murray finished the season ranked at No.42, his highest year-end ranking since 2017, after winning three Challenger titles and reaching the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Doha.
🤩 @andy_murray is a champion AGAIN 🤩
Andy wins the the #RothesayOpen Nottingham title & goes back-to-back on the @ATPChallenger circuit🌱 pic.twitter.com/j3ZM63eUIR
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 18, 2023
However, the 36-year-old did not manage to achieve his goal of becoming seeded for a major tournament and Henman has given his verdict on whether 2024 will be the final year of Murray’s career.
“I think it might be. I don’t know,” claims Henman. “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’s out there putting in the hours on the court, in the gym, and I just hope he can get some rewards for all that time and effort.”
Murray finished the season in disappointing form, winning only one of his last six matches, and had to withdraw from the Davis Cup with a shoulder injury.
Henman believed this showed in his attitude, “At the end of last year, it didn’t look like he was enjoying himself on the court. His attitude wasn’t good.”
The 49-year-old continued, “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.”
Another disappointment for Murray in 2023 was his Grand Slam performances, with his best result coming at the Australian Open where he reached the third round.
It wouldn't be an #AnAceYearInReview if we didn't recognise *that* match with the 4:15am finish 🤯@andy_murray played the longest match of his career when he beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-5 to progress to the third round of the @AustralianOpen 👏 pic.twitter.com/RcLojjNYke
— Tennis Scotland (@tennisscotland) December 18, 2023
And Henman believes that Murray is capable of bettering this in Melbourne next month, “I think he’s moving better than he was then and I think he can play better as well. Perhaps if the schedule is a little bit kinder and the weather is a bit warmer, he can have a good run and that’s what he’s putting all the work in the gym for.”
Murray will begin his 2024 season at the Brisbane International, that begins on Sunday 31st December, before heading to the Melbourne for the first major of the year.
Inside the baseline…
It does feel as though Andy Murray is nearing the end of his career, which feels like the end of an era with Rafael Nadal also nearing retirement and Roger Federer has been retired for over a year now. Murray will want one last big run at a major tournament, with Wimbledon going to be the main aim, however when you are unseeded you are constantly running the risk of drawing someone like Novak Djokovic in the first round.
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