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IMAGE: After bagging his five hundredth win, Andy Murray mentioned he was glad to attain the feat earlier than he was ‘finished’. {Photograph}: Rula Rouhana/Reuters
Andy Murray hinted that this may very well be his final season after he recorded his five hundredth hardcourt win with a 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3 victory over Canada’s Denis Shapovalov within the first spherical of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
Murray joined Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi and Rafa Nadal as the one gamers to achieve the five hundredth tour-level win milestone on the floor within the skilled period.
“Clearly hardcourt has been an excellent floor for me through the years and 500 is a whole lot of matches so I am very pleased with that,” Murray mentioned.
“There aren’t many gamers which have finished that, so, nice to get to 500 earlier than I am finished.”
It was simply the second win this yr for the 36-year-old who suffered a primary spherical exit on the latest Australian Open, and Murray has did not transcend the third spherical of a Grand Slam since reaching the Wimbledon quarters in 2017.
Murray, former world primary and winner of three Grand Slam singles titles, misplaced his second spherical match in Qatar final week to 18-year-old Jakub Mensik, and through the defeat he appeared to shout “this sport just isn’t for me anymore”.
‘In all probability don’t have too lengthy left’
He performed down these feedback after Monday’s win in Dubai, however admitted that the tip of his profession may very well be close to.
“Individuals learn loads into what I say on the courtroom typically and it isn’t at all times rational,” he mentioned.
“I nonetheless love competing, I nonetheless love the sport. It will get more durable and more durable the older you get to compete with the younger guys.
“It is not straightforward, I most likely do not have too lengthy left however I am going to do the very best that I can these previous couple of months.”
Final month after one other first spherical exit in Montpellier, Murray responded to a BBC article during which a journalist questioned whether or not his bravely soldering on will harm his legacy.
“”Tarnishing my legacy? Do me a favour,” Murray responded on social media platform X.
“Most individuals would stop and quit in my scenario proper now. However I am not most individuals and my thoughts works in another way,” he added.
“I will not stop. I’ll hold combating and dealing to provide the performances I do know I am able to.”
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