Emotional two-time champion says he doesn’t know if he will be back and ‘motivation is obviously a big thing’
An emotional Andy Murray hinted that he may have played his last Wimbledon match after his hopes of reaching the third round were dashed on Friday.
The two-time champion spoke of his disappointment after he was defeated by Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fifth seed, in five sets as the temperature soared to 29C.
Continue reading...Billie Jean King, Roger Federer, Björn Borg and Venus Williams among 26 tennis legends to mark occasion
Wimbledon spectators were treated to appearances by some of the tournament’s legends including Billie Jean King, Roger Federer and Venus Williams on Sunday as Centre Court celebrated its 100th anniversary.
The ceremony featured 26 previous champions as well as a singalong led by Cliff Richard, recreating when he memorably entertained the Centre Court crowd in similar fashion during a lengthy rain delay in 1996.
Continue reading...Andy Murray has welcomed Novak Djokovic’s release from immigration detention but he anticipates the men’s world No 1 will have a number of questions to answer in the coming days if he remains in Australia.
Djokovic spent his first full day of freedom focusing on tennis matters as he took to Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena behind closed doors for much-needed practice after the best part of five days spent in a hotel room fighting the cancellation of his visa.
Continue reading...It’s been a tumultuous five years for Andy Murray: countless injuries, a new metal hip, four children and a bout of Covid. Can the former world No 1 really battle his way back to brilliance at Wimbledon?
Is he or isn’t he? One minute Andy Murray, one of Britain’s greatest living athletes, tells me he’ll be back on the court at Wimbledon this month, playing well in the tournament that made his name. And the next, he doesn’t sound so sure. “The test is being on court with the best players,” he says in a break in training, “and that’s something that, right this second, is difficult to give a definitive answer to.”
The joy of sport is its unpredictability, but Murray’s not talking about that. His body has been through such immense stress and strain – throughout his career, but especially over the past few years – that he can’t rely on it. He genuinely doesn’t know what it can do.
Continue reading...Widely loved and politically progressive, the Scot will retire as arguably the greatest individual British sports person of the modern age
Stop all the green and yellow Timex clocks. Put away that union jack tea towel. Stow the Pimms-sodden crash barriers at the foot of the Aorangi Terrace.
Andy Murray may yet play another Wimbledon this summer, depending on the state of his chronic, career-capping hip injury. But in the wake of a raw and tearful press conference on Friday morning it seems highly likely that next week’s Australian Open will be the final appearance of a stellar, transformative, broadly-sketched tennis career.
Continue reading...• Murray unsure he will make it to Wimbledon
• ‘The pain is too much. I don’t want to continue’
• Latest updates: tributes paid as Murray admits time is up
Andy Murray’s career is all but over. He expects his match against Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday to be his last but, even if another hip operation were to help him reach a more emotional and perhaps more fitting farewell at Wimbledon, it will never be the same for the player who stood alongside Fred Perry as the greatest Britain has ever had. Many would say Murray was the greater, but it is a fine call.
The former world No1 and three-time slam champion conceded that the pain that has been running through his right hip with increasing strength the past few months has brought his serious playing days to a reluctant conclusion.
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