Andy Murray admits he doesn’t ‘have too long left’ before retirement and has revealed his new tactic – used by both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
There is much speculation over when three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, who is 36 and plays with a metal hip, will join Federer in hanging up his racket.
Former world No.1 Murray admitted after his first-round exit at the Australian Open last month that he was considering his future in tennis.
Andy Murray then softened his stance, though, insisting that he will continue for as long as possible because of his ‘love’ for playing and training.
But the British hero appeared to mouth ‘this game’s not for me any more’ during his defeat to teenager Jakub Mensik at the Qatar Open last week, sparking fresh rumours over his retirement.
Murray recorded the 500th hard-court win of his career with victory over Denis Shapovalov in Dubai on Monday and speaking after the match, Murray once again opened up about plans to call time on his career.
‘People read a lot into what I say on the court sometimes,’ Murray said. ‘It’s not always rational.
‘But everybody asks me about it all of the time anyway. Look, I obviously still love competing, I still love the game but it’s getting harder and harder the older you get, to compete with the young guys, keep your body fit and fresh.
‘Yeah, it is not easy. I probably don’t have too long left but I will do as best as I can these last few months.’
Two-time Wimbledon winner Murray has also revealed the changes he made ahead of the 2024 season to copy fellow legends Federer and Djokovic.
‘I’ve always played with natural gut in the cross-strings of my racket,’ Murray added. ‘And in the off-season, I changed the main strings of my racket, which is a set-up Novak uses and Federer used.
‘It probably just gives a little bit easier depth to the ball. The ball comes off the racket [at a] slightly higher angle than when I’ve played with it the other way and I really like it.
‘But it’s obviously different when you go on the match court because I’ve used the other string for it’s about 20 years.
‘So then you go into matches and you start playing and you doubt things a little bit naturally and then you’re not winning matches.
‘And I was thinking about going back before Doha but decided to stick with it. And I’m sure as the season goes on I’ll feel a little bit more comfortable with it.
‘But I feel like it was the right thing for my game and the stage of my career that I’m at.’
