What a career he has had.
Andy Murray announced on Thursday evening that he would be retiring from professional tennis after the 2019 Wimbledon tournament.
In an emotional press conference ahead of the Australian Open, the 31-year-old Scotsman told reporters: “I’m not feeling good. I’ve been struggling for a long time. Been in a lot of pain for 20 months now. Pretty much done everything I could to make my hip feel better.”
Murray made it clear that his goal is to make it as far as this year’s Wimbledon tournament, but that even that may not be possible.
“Wimbledon is where I would like to stop playing but I’m not certain I’ll be able to do that,” he said. “I’m not certain I can play through the pain for another four or five months.”
A tearful Andy Murray reveals that next week's Australian Open could be his last tournament before injury forces him to retire
[Tap to expand] https://t.co/H1cKgDWkLl pic.twitter.com/3jdh0wUJUT
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 11, 2019
Murray has been a competitor at the top level of professional tennis for over a decade, and has three Grand Slam titles to his name — including two at Wimbledon, where in 2013 he became the first British player to win since 1936. Murray also won two gold medals at the Olympics, and has spent time ranked as the world’s number one tennis player.
He has also been a finalist at the Australian Open five times, but has had to compete in a punishing era of tennis alongside all-time greats such as Roger Federer.
Many of Murray’s peers and fellow professionals have paid tribute to the man on social media.
Andy, just watched your conference. Please don’t stop trying. Keep fighting. I can imagine your pain and sadness. I hope you can overcome this. You deserve to retire on your own terms, whenever that happens. We love you @andy_murray and we want to see you happy and doing well. 🙏
— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) January 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/andyroddick/status/1083522286056062976
Murray’s first game of the Australian Open is scheduled for 14 January, against Spanish player Roberto Bautista Agut.
