Andy Murray’s absence from this year’s Wimbledon has been curious, given it’s his first since retiring from tennis.
Having withdrawn from the singles and forced to pull out of the mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu, the Scotsman got just one final farewell at the All-England Club rather than three before calling time on his glittering career.
A two-time winner at this event, and arguably one of the most historic champions ever in regards to British history, the legacy he leaves behind, not just on his nation but on the entire sporting world, will not be long forgotten.
So, it’s strange to see Andy Murray yet to make a return to Wimbledon to lap up the inevitable adulation he so richly deserves.
Interestingly, it is for that very reason we have not seen him.
Why Andy Murray hasn’t been at Wimbledon this year
Speaking on the Tennis Channel Live podcast, Jon Wertheim offered a useful insight into the Murray-shaped hole left in this year’s tournament.
His first since retiring, the journalist admitted: ’There has been one conspicuous absence, though. Hint, it’s a two-time champion. It’s a local British player and someone that had been here for more than 20 years running.
‘Who are we talking about? Andy Murray, of course.
‘I’m told that Andy Murray, in his first year officially retired, had been given a number of opportunities to come here, some corporate opportunities, a job with the BBC. He’s decided to stay away.
‘There have been jokes about how he’s got kids he has to tend to and so forth, but I’m told by a close friend of his, and it’s more serious about that.
‘He’s sort of transitioning to retirement and thought he would be best if maybe he kept a low profile, this first Wimbledon with him in retirement.
‘I suspect in the future, we will, however, see him much more at the All-England Club.’
Fortunately, despite his absence, Cam Norrie has been copying what Murray used to do with the Wimbledon crowd, ensuring some form of his legacy remains at this year’s event.
Andy Murray is spending plenty of his retirement with Carlos Alcaraz
In an odd, unexpected, but completely wholesome turn of events, it seems like Murray has taken Carlos Alcaraz under his wing of late, with the two developing a friendship over their shared golfing interest.
The 39-year-old took up the sport after his retirement, and has since become obsessed with it.
He enjoyed a day out with the Spaniard before Wimbledon and, it was revealed, the two also played again mid-way through the tournament.
Asked about it on court on Friday, and who won the match, Alcaraz said: ‘He said to you to ask me this question, right?
‘Okay, I know, I know, because he beat me that day. He beat me in golf that day. But then a few days later, we played again, and I beat him. So it’s 1-1. We’re tied!
‘I just love playing golf on my days off. So I know he has a busy schedule, I guess. So I will try to set it up, you know, a golf round again. Nine holes and we see who wins. You know, we are tied 1-1, so I have to play again. Yeah, absolutely.’
It’s not a narrative anybody expected, but this budding golf rivalry, and friendship, is so heartwarming.
Hopefully, Murray can attend the Wimbledon final, should his golfing partner make it that far, to show him some support.
