Andy Murray has witnessed his peers, including as Roger Federer and Serena Williams, have extravagant retirement send-offs.
He, on the other hand, continues to duke it out on the ATP Tour, occasionally earning huge wins, but they have recently dried up with some suggesting he might soon pack it in.
Murray had a rough start to the 2024 season, losing to Grigor Dimitrov in his first match in Brisbane.
However, Murray is not thinking about retirement plans at this time. The former World No 1 was asked if a farewell tour was possible during his most recent visit on Radio 5 Live, but he quickly dismissed the idea instead, turning it into a joke.
Murray downplayed his popularity but said that he could see why players like Serena Williams and Roger Federer were doing a farewell tour or event because fans would want to watch them play “one last time.”
“I don’t know, to be honest, I probably wouldn’t. As I get it more, like, in a like, when you’re Roger Feder or Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams, or whatever like these,” Andy Murray said. “You know, everyone wants to see them one last time; it is probably not quite the same for me.”
The British comedian continued his jest by claiming that if he announced a farewell tour, no one outside of the UK would probably be bothered to stop by.
“So if I was, oh, you know, tomorrow, I’m, I’m announcing my farewell tour,” Andy Murray said. “I’m not, I’m not sure how many people we bothered… maybe in the UK.”
Murray started his 2024 season quickly, winning the first set in their Brisbane International first-round match against Grigor Dimitrov.
He used an aggressive return serve strategy that paid off, as he was able to put his opponent under pressure.
But the British player was unable to win the match in straight sets, giving up an unfortunate break of service that allowed Dimitrov to tie the score in the second set, taking the frame 7-5. As the match went on, Murray started to wilt a little bit as his opponent grew more at ease on the court. After the apparent swing in momentum, Dimitrov would win the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
By the end of the match, the former World No 1 had four aces to his opponent’s thirteen. In particular, his dismal first-serve winning rate of 63% was concerning, and he will want to improve that moving forward.
