Andy Murray retirement: Scot not entirely sure of exact date in summer and eyes final Olympic tilt

The former world No 1 says it is not an easy decision to put exact timeline on hanging up racket

Andy Murray has revealed he is still unsure exactly when this summer he will retire as a tennis player. Murray, 36, said last month that he “did not plan on playing much past this summer” and in an interview with The Times he explained why he cannot be more specific about when he hangs up his racket.

He said: “I would love the chance to play in another Olympics, but also genuinely only if I felt like there was a chance of winning a medal. I’m also very conscious that because of how amazing my experiences at the Olympics have been, I would want to be there by right and not just take one of the other guys’ spots, because it is a brilliant opportunity. We have top doubles players (Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski are ranked inside the world’s top 10) and also Jack (Draper), Cam (Norrie) and Evo (Dan Evans) in singles as well.”

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Murray, a three-time grand slam winner, who held the number one spot in the men’s singles rankings for a total of 41 weeks in the same era as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, could focus on the doubles at the Paris Olympics, which will be played on his least favourite surface, clay. He reached the quarter-finals in partnership with Salisbury at Tokyo 2020 and added: “When I played with Joe, I had the conversation beforehand with him that my feeling was there was a greater chance of me winning a medal in doubles than singles.”

Andy Murray has already won two Olympic gold medals in his glittering career.Andy Murray has already won two Olympic gold medals in his glittering career.
Andy Murray has already won two Olympic gold medals in his glittering career.

Murray said he was “bored” of being questioned about when he will retire, saying: “It’s been happening since Wimbledon last year in most weeks. It’s something that I’ve had to talk about and entertain. Obviously at some stage the end will come. It’s not an easy decision to know exactly when that will be or when it should be.”

Murray is due to be in action this week at the Miami Open, the second ATP Masters 1000 series event of the season.

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