Andy Murray shuts down rumours of retirement at ‘this year’s Wimbledon’

Andy Murray has shut down any potential rumours of him retiring at Wimbledon this year, as the Brit spoke about the importance of ending his career on his own terms.

Murray is gearing up to play his 15th Wimbledon Championships, and the 36-year-old was asked by Sky Sports whether it would be his last, “I hope not, but you never know.”

He continued, “It’s why athletes need to make the most of it while they’re still able to because if I was to have another big injury or if something happened to the metal hip that would be me finished. I wouldn’t try to come back from another operation or major surgery again so I want to keep playing a bit longer.”

“I know it’s not going to be going on forever, but I have an idea of when I would like to finish and it’s not this year’s Wimbledon.”

After winning two ATP Challenger grass court titles, Murray has moved back inside the world’s top 40 for the first time since 2018.

? @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, he is unlikely to reach his aim of being a seed at SW19, as the two-time Wimbledon champion is currently sitting five places away from that elusive 32nd spot.

Despite potentially facing a tougher opening draw at Wimbledon, Murray still has high ambitions and claims he can compete at a high level ‘for a couple more years’.

“I don’t know exactly which tournament it would be or where it will be,” said Murray. “I just have an idea of how much longer I would like to play for and I don’t want to put myself in a position like before I had the operation. I want to finish on my own terms.”

“I want to finish on the court where I feel I can still do myself justice and playing at a really high level. I definitely feel I can do that for a couple more years.”

Star spotting at the Aorangi Park practice courts ?#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/tcBDV2spHV

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 26, 2023

Murray has also compared himself to his colleagues including Roger Federer and Serena Williams, who have now moved away from the respective professional tennis tours.

“There’s no right or wrong way of finishing your career and it’s always a really difficult one for athletes,” explained the current British No.3. “Lots of people would have said the best way for Roger Federer to finish would have been at Wimbledon but I thought the way that he finished his career on the doubles court with Rafa (Nadal) surrounded by some of the greats of the game was brilliant.”

Murray added, “The way Rafa wants to go about it is up to him and Serena finished at the US Open after a great run. There’s never one way of doing it. It’s whatever’s right for the individual.”

Showing that this is something that he has been thinking heavily about, Murray revealed that he has also spoken to former coaches and players about how they decided to end their careers.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of ex-players and some of them who have coached me. I’ve spoke to them about the end of their career and how they knew it was the end of their time,” revealed Murray. “Pretty much everybody said ‘play as long as you can, nothing will replace it. These are the best years of your life so try and make the most of it’.

He concluded, “I don’t want to leave too soon but I’m also aware after everything that I went through, I don’t want to finish with an injury where I’m not able to play properly either.”

Murray will find out his first round Wimbledon opponent on Friday, when the draw takes place at 10am (BST).

Andy Murray Career Achievements

As the 10 year anniversary to Murray becoming the first British men’s Wimbledon singles champion since 1936 draws close, we at Tennishead wanted to reflect on the Scot’s legendary career so far.

Andy Murray Career Highlights

Career high: No.1 (41 weeks)

ATP Titles: 46

Grand Slam titles: 3 (US Open 2012, Wimbledon 2013 and 2016)

Masters 1000 titles: 14

ATP Finals titles: 1 (2016)

Olympic medals: 3 (London 2012 – Singles Gold, Mixed Doubles Silver. Rio 2016 – Singles Gold)

Davis Cup titles: 1 (2015)