Andy Murray retirement: Savour every remaining moment as the end is not far away now

Talk of Scot calling time on glittering career heightens after Etcheverry loss – a farewell tour is surely not far away

When Andy Murray spoke on the eve of the 2024 tennis season, he hinted that it could be his last year as a professional player. Those suspicions have now grown considerably after his sobering exit at the Australian Open.

Murray tried to put a positive spin on where he is in his career when he spoke upon arriving down under in late December, saying that he feels in good shape and that performances – and of course health – will dictate when he decides to hang up his tennis racket. The end of the 2023 campaign had been difficult, pockmarked by close, painful defeats, but still ranked inside the world’s top 50 at 44, Murray spoke with genuine belief that he could continue to make an impact. Just over two weeks on and the mood feels more sombre, like we are now witnessing Murray’s farewell tour.

Completely outclassed 6-4 6-2 6-2 by 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Monday, Murray lost in the first round of the Australian Open for only the second time in 16 years. Falling to Etcheverry is no embarrassment, far from it. The Argentine made the quarter-finals of the French Open last year and can play on hard court. He is far from a dirt rat. But when Etcheverry and Murray met twice last year, both matches went the distance, with once win apiece. This time Etcheverry was in a different league in all departments: serve, groundstrokes, winners, error count and mobility. The gulf between the two was big.

Andy Murray has won Wimbledon twice and will likely want another date with the grass courts of SW19.

That’s why Murray’s post-match media conference was conducted in a subdued atmosphere. His long goodbye to all four corners of the Kia Arena inevitably led to questions on whether this was final appearance at the Australian Open, a tournament that has inflicted its fair share of agony upon him after being runner-up five times. The 36-year-old said it was “definitely possible” that losing to Etcheverry would be his closing act at the tournament.

We’ve been here before, of course, in Melbourne no less, when a tearful Murray admitted in 2019 that a hip problem could force him to retire from the sport. The Australian Open organisers even organised a stadium video tribute to him ahead of his match against Roberto Bautista Agut when the great and the good of the sport paid homage to him. A resurfacing operation resulted in those encomiums becoming premature – but there was something chillingly real about the talk of retirement this time around.

Murray says he has not identified a precise moment for when he will call time on a glittering career and that he will talk it over with his family. Naturally, reporters probed at him just minutes after his defeat as to what his next move will be. He is scheduled to play at an indoor event in Montpellier at the start of February before moving on to Marseille the following the week but those plans are fluid. Given the high standards Murray demands of himself, he would have expected to overcome Etcheverry – he was the narrow favourite with the bookmakers to do so – and set-up a mouth-watering second-round clash with Gael Monfils. Tennis players will tell you that they don’t look at the draw but surely he would have noted that Novak Djokovic was likely to await in round three. Now that would have been a better way to sign off from the Australian Open.

Emotions and despondency are always exacerbated right after a defeat, yet there was also no melodrama from Murray. Retirement is real – but probably not quite yet. While he will likely drop out of the top 50 by the end of the Australian Open and has lost seven of his past eight matches, Murray is very competitive on tour. The meek display against Etcheverry, while ending in defeat, went against the grain of what we’ve seen from him against guys like Alex de Minaur and Grigor Dimitrov recently, players taken to brink by the three-time Grand Slam champion. Big tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami come up in March before the clay court swing and French Open in the spring. And then there’s Wimbledon, the happiest of hunting grounds for Murray. Twice he’s won the tournament and it was also the scene of his first Olympic gold medal. The US Open, held later in the summer, was where he won his maiden Slam. It is hard to imagine him not wanting at least one final hurrah there.

A pensive Andy Murray speaks to the media after losing to Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Australian Open.

His conditioning will have a say, of course. Murray has done remarkably well to even be in this position after the hip operation – but other parts of his body are starting to ache and let him down against younger, fitter opponents. Tennis has become increasingly physical and most of Murray’s opponents are able to stay the distance with him. He is acutely aware of this. Furthermore, there is the pain of losing. A serial winner for so many years, it is hard to keep coming second best to players who are unlikely to match any of his achievements in the game. As a former world No 1, there will be a desire to bow out with his head held high, not slogging away as his ranking plummets.

With Roger Federer already gone and Rafael Nadal likely to follow this year too, Murray and Stan Wawrinka were the only two players in the 2024 Australian Open men’s draw apart from serial winner Novak Djokovic with more than two Slams to their names. Both fell at the first hurdle. Tennis is changing, the golden generation is very much on the way out. It would not be a surprise to see Nadal, Murray and Wawrinka all vacate the scene this year.

This is all why you should take every remaining moment you can to enjoy watching Murray, one of Scotland’s greatest ever sportsmen. We may not know when the exact end date will land, but it’s in the post.