Andy Murray has made first-round exits at the Brisbane International, Australian Open and Open Sud de France in recent weeks; the 36-year-old rebuffed suggestions on social media that it may be time for him to retire from tennis
Andy Murray has no immediate plans to call time on his career and vowed: “I won’t quit”, despite enduring a winless start to 2024.
The 36-year-old two-time Wimbledon winner was dumped out in the first round at both the Brisbane International and Australian Open and remains winless in 2024 after another defeat in France this week.
Andy Murray let slip a one-set lead against Benoit Paire to lose 6-2 6-7 3-6 in his opening match of the Open Sud de France and has not won a competitive match since his victory over Yannick Hanfmann in Basel in October 2023.
After the match, some questioned whether it was time for Murray to bring his playing career to a close, but the Scot has pledged to keep on fighting.
Murray responded to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by saying: “Tarnishing my legacy? Do me a favour. I’m in a terrible moment right now I’ll give you that.
“Most people would quit and give up in my situation right now. But I’m not most people and my mind works differently. I won’t quit. I will keep fighting and working to produce the performances I know I’m capable of.”
Murray was supported on social media by former US Open champion Andy Roddick, who said: “Preach! Imagine telling an accomplished iconic adult your opinion on what they should choose for work and when they should do it. Can’t take a legacy away. Accomplishment lives forever.”
Andy Murray’s slow start to 2024
Andy Murray, who has said this year could be his last on tour if he is “not enjoying it”, lost in the opening round to Grigor Dimitrov in Brisbane and fell to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets at the Australian Open.
He raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening set against Paire on Monday after breaking the world No 112’s first service game and broke the Frenchman for a second time in the eighth game to wrap it up 6-2 in 38 minutes.
Paire, who reached a career-high ranking of 18 in 2016, responded by breaking Murray in the opening game of the second set and after the Briton broke back to level it up at 4-4, it headed for a tie-break.
Murray won three successive points from 5-1 down and saved a set point to claw it back to 6-5, but lost the next point on his serve and Paire clinched the tie-break 7-5 to level the match. After both players had lost their serve early in the decider, Paire made the decisive break when 4-3 ahead and served it out to seal an impressive win.
