Andy Murray remains motivated and is “putting in the hours on the court” ahead of the 2024 tennis season, but Tim Henman admits next year could be the former world No 1’s last campaign as a professional tennis player.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Murray enjoyed a mixed 2023 season as he started with a couple of brilliant lung-busting wins at the Australian Open and followed it up with a run to the Qatar Open final.
But his form dropped off after that as he enjoyed a nightmare clay-court season before he turned things around on the ATP Challenger Tour as he won back-to-back titles on grass, which helped him to surge back into the top 40 of the ATP Rankings.
But that was followed by poor runs at Wimbledon, the US Open, Asian swing and European indoor campaign as he eventually finished the year at No 42.
Following his final event of the year at the Paris Masters, Murray made a stark revelation.
“I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing,” he admitted. “The last five, six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not much positivity there.”
His comments raised questions about his playing future although the 37-year-old is set to return to the tour in 2024.
Former British No 1 Henman, though, feels retirement is looming.
Asked by Eurosport if 2024 could be Murray’s last as a competitive player, he replied: “I think it might be. I don’t know. He’s the only one that really knows that. But look, he’s still so motivated. I’ve seen him practising at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton.
“He’s out there putting in the hours on the court, in the gym, and I just hope he can get some rewards for all that time and effort.”
With the 2023 season ending in misery, Murray will be looking to not only regain his form early in 2024, but also find some joy in his game again.
Henman added: “At the end of last year, it didn’t look like he was enjoying himself on the court. His attitude wasn’t good.
“At this stage of his career, you want him to be out there not only having some good results, but enjoying himself. He’s not going to be playing professional tennis forever.
“I think for me, the wish list for Andy Murray is for him to play well and have some good wins and enjoy himself. So, yeah, fingers crossed.”
