Tag: Andy Murray

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray said 2024 could be his final year before retirement after illness and injury hampered his preparation for the new season.

Murray’s year will begin at the Brisbane International as he builds up for the Australian Open later in January.

The 36-year-old is ranked 42nd in the world after a frustrating end to 2023 when he won just one match in his last four tournaments.

Andy Murray has previously battled back from what seemed impending retirement after undergoing hip surgery in 2018.

But he conceded that he will bring down the curtain on his career if the next 12 months follow the same pattern as 2023.

“If I was in a situation like I was at the end of last year, then I probably wouldn’t go again,” Murray told the BBC.

“But then if physically I’m doing well and my results are good and I’m playing well, then that’s enjoyable and I could see myself still playing.

“We’ll see how the year goes, see how the body holds up. If things are going well, I’d love to keep going. But if they’re not, and I’m not enjoying it, it could be the last year, yes.”

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Andy Murray, who won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 and also took the US Open title in 2012, is part of a golden generation coming towards the end of trophy-laden careers.

Roger Federer retired in 2022 and Rafael Nadal had an injury-blighted 2023, although the Spaniard has suggested he might try to play on beyond 2024.

At 36, Novak Djokovic is still hoping to add to his record 24 Grand Slam titles before hanging up his racket.

Murray revealed the psychological struggle with falling down the rankings after so many years at the top was taking its toll.

“When you have played right at the highest level, it’s not that easy when you are going through periods where you are losing in first rounds, and maybe losing matches that you probably should have won,” he added.

“At the same time, a couple of years ago if someone had offered me that I’d been playing at top-40 level in the world when I had been struggling with my hip, I would have been happy with that.

“But it is hard, mentally, so I need to do a better job of putting things in perspective this year and be a little bit easier on myself.”

Murray faces second seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first round in Brisbane on Monday.

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Andy Murray conceded Saturday he longed for the chance to play again on the big stage against superstars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Speaking ahead of the season-opening Brisbane International, the 36-year-old said he missed the days when he regularly met Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer at the business end of major tournaments.

Andy Murray matched it with the big three for a decade between 2006-16 before a run of injuries resulted in time off court and a slide in his ranking.

While the others powered on to title after title, the Scotsman, now ranked 42, was forced to battle his way back, his career never reaching its former heights.

The last time Andy Murray met Nadal was in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters in 2016 and while he played Novak Djokovic in the Madrid Masters last year, he had not met him since 2017 before that.

“Obviously I would like the opportunity to play against them again, ideally in the latter stages of big tournaments,” Murray said.

“That’s something that obviously I’ve missed, that feeling, not had that opportunity really.

“If I get the opportunity to practise with them, I still really, really enjoy that.

“It does bring back some good memories, but ideally, I’d want to be doing that in the tournaments, not in the first rounds.”

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Murray has been practising with Nadal in Brisbane as the Spaniard makes his comeback after almost 12 months away with injury.

He said Rafael Nadal was moving well and showing no signs of the hip injury that forced him off tour after the 2023 Australian Open.

Murray also said Nadal appeared to have made only minor changes to his game in his time away from the tour.

“His second serve is significantly harder than what he did earlier in his career,” Murray said.

“But yeah, the rest of the game, unless there’s a physical issue, there’s not really much reason for him to make huge changes to that — it’s been pretty successful.

“When he’s fit and healthy, that game style is what has worked really, really well for him, looking for his forehand, trying to dominate with that shot.

“If he wants to be successful in the future, that’s what he should be looking to do. That’s how he was trying to play today.”

Murray takes on second-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the first round, a rematch of the 2013 Brisbane International final which Murray won in two close sets.

Dimitrov won their last encounter at this year’s US Open.

“I need to play really well, certainly much better than there, if I want to get through it,” Andy Murray said.

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Former Toronto Masters winners Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev dispatched first-round opponents in windy conditions on Tuesday to power into the second round of the Canadian hardcourt event.

Britain’s Murray worked through a marathon opening set before dominating the second for a 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 victory over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

The 36-year-old Scotsman, with three Toronto Masters titles on his resume, earned his first victory in the country since his 2015 trophy as he defeated the Italian in two hours, eight minutes in a challenging wind.

Germany’s Zverev, who defeated Roger Federer for the 2017 Toronto Masters title, reached the second round by defeating Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Third seed Casper Ruud began his US Open run-up after a bye, struggling at the start but wrapping up a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 defeat of Jiri Lehecka for a 199th career ATP match win.

The Norwegian trailed 4-0 in the first-set tiebreaker but found form in his first hardcourt match of the summer to reach the third round.

“I told myself not to give up, just keep holding onto the score,” he said. “I saved a couple of set points.

“It was all about luck and margins and they were on my side. By the end of the second set I was hitting and serving better — I’m happy how I progressed in the match.”

Murray won his only previous encounter with Sonego last February in Doha, saving three match points. Murray, ranked 40th to his opponent’s 39th, also lifted the Toronto Masters trophy here in 2009 and 2010.

Murray’s opening set lasted 90 minutes, with the two-time Wimbledon winner saving set points in the 10th game.

He profitted from Sonego’s 44 unforced errors to sweep into the second round.

“I’m really pleased to have won. Those were blustery conditions,” Murray said. “The wind was changing conditions during the points.

“We knew it would be like this after hitting here this morning. The breeze added a bit of stress.”

Andy Murray said getting through the first set was a challenge.

“It was tight, there were a lot of opportunities on both sides,” he said. “I managed to sneak through the tiebreaker, he probably got disappointed and I relaxed a bit in the second set.

“I hope to build confidence and win a few matches,” said the three-time Grand Slam champion, who exited last week in the Washington third round to Taylor Fritz.

“I had success here but it was a long time ago. Hopefully I can build some momentum.”

Former ATP number two Alexander Zverev, seeded 13th and playing here for the first time in four years, extended his current win streak to six matches after taking his home event in Hamburg last month.

The German battled the wind for an hour and three-quarters to prevail.

He sent down an ace for three match points and won as his opponent missed on a drop shot attempt.

Alexander Zverev ended with 27 winners and 20 unforced errors — the exact reversal of Griekspoor’s 20 and 27.

“It was a win in tough conditions,” Zverev said. “It was very windy.

“I’m just happy to get through. I hope it gets nicer to play tomorrow.”

Britain failed to get two men into the Toronto Masters second round as 11th-seeded Cameron Norrie went down 7-5, 6-4 to weekend Los Cabos finalist Alex de Minaur of Australia.

Britain suffered another blow as Dan Evans, who took his first ATP title in 2 1/2 years on Sunday at Washington, lost to Canadian wild card Gabriel Diallo 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, the local taking his first tour-level match triumph.

Canada lost its number one as Felix Auger-Aliassime suffered his fifth consecutive loss on his 23rd birthday, falling 6-4, 6-4 to Australian qualifier Max Purcell, the world number 78 whose next foe will be Andy Murray.

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MELBOURNE: Andy Murray rolled back the years to defeat 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in a five-set epic at the Australian Open on Tuesday, on a sweltering day that saw play suspended for three hours on most courts.

There was controversy off the court meanwhile on day two after organisers banned Russian and Belarusian flags at Melbourne Park.

Novak Djokovic is set to make his eagerly anticipated return to the Grand Slam later Tuesday following his ban and deportation last year.

But the day looked set to belong to the 35-year-old Murray, after the Briton saved match point to defeat Italy’s Berrettini 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (10/6) in 4hrs 49mins under a closed roof on Rod Laver Arena due to the extreme heat.

“I will be feeling this this evening and tomorrow,” the former world number one, who plays with a metal hip after career-saving surgery, said.

“But right now unbelievably happy and proud of myself.

“I’ve put a lot of work into the last few months with my team to give me this opportunity to perform in stadiums like this, in matches like this and against players like Matteo — and it paid off tonight.”

“I did well to get through,” added the three-time major winner, who faces either Fabio Fognini or Thanasi Kokkinakis in round two.

Also in the men’s draw, Russia’s fifth seed Andrey Rublev ended the tournament of 2020 finalist Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) temperatures.

Former US Open champion Thiem was outplayed as he continued his return from a wrist injury which kept him off court for nine months across the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

As the mercury rose, the heat forced play to be halted on outside courts. The roofs were closed on the three main stadiums — Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena.

Play resumed on the outside courts about three hours later.

Like in the women’s draw, the men’s seeds were mostly untroubled.

Britain’s Dan Evans, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Diego Schwartzman of Argentina all rolled into round two.

Eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Serbia’s Djokovic was deported on the eve of last year’s Australian Open because of his stance on Covid vaccines.

But the 35-year-old will be back when he faces Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in his opener and looks likely to be given a warm reception by the Rod Laver Arena crowd.

He is bidding to win the Australian Open for a record-extending 10th time and in doing so tie defending champion Rafael Nadal’s men’s all-time record of 22 Grand Slam crowns.

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MARBELLA: The British Tennis player Andy Murray withdrew from a much-anticipated clash with the top-ranked Novak Djokovic at the 11th hour due to illness.

Murray and Djokovic, who last met in the Doha final in January 2017 were all set to come face to face in a much-awaited clash in the Round of 16 of the Madrid Open but the British decided to give Serb a walkover after falling ill.

The former World No.1 Murray, who has been in exceptional form at the Masters 1000 tournament, has decided to end his Madrid Open campaign as the 34-years-old fell ill.

Taking to Twitter, the Madrid Open organizers made the major announcement of Murray pulling out of his Round of 16 match against Djokovic.

“Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness. We wish you a speedy recovery, [Andy Murray]”,” the MMOPEN wrote.

Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness 😔

We wish you a speedy recovery, @andy_murray! 😘

🏟️ Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day's play on centre court. pic.twitter.com/0QdLyh7qhl

— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 5, 2022

 

Djokovic, on the other hand, will now face the winner of the Round of 16 match between Hubert Hurkacz and Dusan Lajoiv in the quarter-finals.

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MIAMI: Daniil Medvedev is thriving on the pressure of being the man to beat after dispatching Andy Murray in straight sets at the Miami Open on Saturday to edge closer to regaining his world number one ranking.

The Russian top seed served superbly against the 34-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion to ease to a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 triumph at Hard Rock Stadium and will face Spain’s Pedro Martinez next.

Medvedev lost his No. 1 ranking after just 18 days, having failed to go deep in Indian Wells, but will regain it once again from the absent Novak Djokovic if he reaches the semi-finals in Florida.

With Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both missing, the 26-year-old is the favourite to claim his first Miami Open title and his performance against Murray showed he’s in the kind of form that will cause the rest of the field a multitude of problems.

“For sure, guys going against you are going to have more motivation if you are the top seed,” Medvedev told AFP.

“It could be the biggest win of their season but I like to be in this position. The more pressure you have, the more you expect from yourself.

“At the beginning of my career, I would be really happy when I was in the third round for the first time but now I want to achieve more. So yeah, there’s definitely more pressure but also more motivation to continue doing well.”

Medvedev was delighted to briefly reach the pinnacle of men’s tennis but is determined to ensure his next spell at the top won’t be as short.

“It felt good to touch it,” smiled Medvedev. “Reaching No.1 is something that nobody can take away from me even if it was for two weeks.

“But when I did lose it, I just headed back to the practice court and knew I had to get to the semis in Miami to get it back again.

“I have a lot of motivation to stay at No.1 for a long time.”

INDIAN WELLS: Former world number one Andy Murray rallied after a dismal first set to beat Japanese qualifier, Taro Daniel, in the first round at Indian Wells on Friday and claim a 700th ATP Tour match victory.

Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion now ranked 88th in the world and playing on a wildcard invitation, was broken at love four times but held on for a gritty 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory in the first round of the prestigious ATP Masters tournament.

It was his second win in three matches this year against Daniel, who stunned Murray in the second round of the Australian Open before the Briton turned the tables in the first round at Doha.

Murray, who is reuniting with coach Ivan Lendl in a bid to regain championship form after years marked by injury and indifferent results, is now one of just four active players to have won 700 tour matches, along with Roger Federer (1,215), Rafael Nadal (1,043) and Novak Djokovic (991).

“Reaching that number is a really, really good achievement,” said Murray.

“It’s not been easy getting there,” he added, noting that he had reached 600 match wins in 2016 before his victory rate was slowed in large part by injury.

“Five and a half years to get the last hundred, so it’s taken a while,” he said.

Murray said it’s the kind of stat he wouldn’t have paid too much attention to early in his career.

“I do look at that stuff now,” he said. “Like I do look at the other players that are around me, around those numbers. (It) gives me some motivation and encouragement to try to get higher and win more matches.

“When you look at the players that have done it, most of the players that are up there and have won that many matches are certainly the best players of the last sort of 30, 40 years.

“To be in amongst that is nice.”

The signs weren’t auspicious that he would reach the milestone when Daniel raced through the opening set in 28 minutes, Murray claiming just four points on his serve.

But Murray responded in the second, powering to a 5-0 lead himself before Daniel managed to hold serve.

Daniel then broke him to love again before Murray broke back to force a deciding set.

Daniel gained a quick upper hand with another break to love in the opening game of the third, but Murray levelled the set with a break for 3-3 and after a tense hold for 5-4 broke Daniel again for the win on his third match point.

The victory is a morale booster for Murray, who said his ability to maintain a positive attitude was a key takeaway from the match.

“To be honest, I’ve not been playing well,” he said. “There’s obviously been the physical battle, but also mental battle as well, of trying to find my game, trying to be patient and not get too frustrated and too down on myself, which has been tough these last four or five months.

“It’s going to take some time on the practice court to work on. I’m looking forward to working on that with Ivan after the Miami tournament, I’ll train in Orlando there with him.”

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LONDON: Andy Murray has appointed Ivan Lendl as his coach for a third time, reuniting with the man who guided him to all three of his Grand Slam titles.

The former world number one, who has been searching for a coach since splitting from Jamie Delgado in December, first began working with the eight-time Grand Slam champion in 2012.

The Scot won his first Slam under Lendl at the US Open in 2012 before ending Britain’s 77-year wait for a home Wimbledon men’s singles champion the following year.

They split in 2014 but reunited two years later, shortly before Murray clinched his second Wimbledon title.

He ended the season as world number one after a string of titles — he also won his second successive Olympic singles crown — but hip problems began the following year and in November 2017 Lendl again left the team.

It is not yet known how much Lendl will travel with Murray but the 34-year-old will stay in the United States after this month’s tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami for an extended training block.

Murray, currently ranked 84th, has been able to train and play consistently but his recent results have been disappointing aside from a run to the final of the ATP Tour event in Sydney in January.

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