‘I hope not, however you by no means know’ – Will this 12 months’s Wimbledon be Andy Murray’s final?

There’s little question we’re coming to the top of a really particular period for tennis.

Rafa Nadal has introduced he hopes for a year-long leaving tour in 2024, Roger Federer had his ‘leaving do’ on the Laver Cup in London on the finish of final 12 months.

So, as Great Britain’s best ever participant Sir Andy Murray heads into his fifteenth Wimbledon subsequent week, the query is will or not it’s his final?

“I hope not, but you never know. Athletes need to make the most of it while they’re still able to.

“If I have been to have one other massive harm or one thing occurred with the steel hip, that will be me completed. I would not attempt to come again from one other operation.

“I want to keep playing a bit longer I know it’s not going to be going on forever, but I have an idea when I’d like to finish, and it’s not this year’s Wimbledon.”

But he cannot say precisely when he’ll name time on what’s been a stellar profession, which has included profitable three Grand Slam titles and overcoming extraordinary challenges on and off the courtroom, as a result of he would not know himself.

“I don’t know exactly which tournament it would be or where it would be, but I have an idea of how much longer I’d like to play for.

“I wish to end on the courtroom and I wish to end by myself phrases. I nonetheless suppose I’m doing myself justice.

“I can still play at a really high level, I definitely feel I can do that for a couple more years.”

Murray feels there isn’t any proper or mistaken manner for an athlete to name time on a profession.

He undoubtedly would not wish to stick with it too lengthy, however each ex-player he is spoken to has suggested him to play so long as doable as a result of nothing will ever change the sensation of enjoying tennis for a dwelling.

Still, he says the help he is had from his spouse and 4 youngsters is a serious motive why he is nonetheless on the market on tour.

“My family have been incredibly supportive. My wife’s been amazing, pushing me to keep going, keep working hard. I think it’s for the right reasons and not just because she wants me out of the house!”

But it’s a anxious way of life, and final 12 months’s overwhelmed Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios just lately admitted that he’d had suicidal ideas after shedding a match at Wimbledon in 2019.

Murray says it is not that stunning that some fellow gamers battle mentally.

“Individual sports are difficult,” he mentioned, “you are putting yourself out there every single week.

“Sometimes while you’re on tour it may be a lonely place, while you’re sitting in lodge rooms, and you have had robust losses, and also you’re away from family and friends, you possibly can have robust moments.

“It doesn’t surprise me that athletes struggle with mental health.

“The complete social media facet of issues, which 15 or 20 years in the past wasn’t a problem, however that is additionally not straightforward.

“You get back to your room and look at Twitter or Instagram and you’re receiving tonnes of abuse when you’re already not in a great place.”

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This Wimbledon sees the return of Russian and Belarusian gamers, who weren’t allowed to participate final 12 months due to the battle in Ukraine.

It’s been a giant speaking level for over a 12 months, however Wimbledon and the British grass tournaments that lead as much as the championships had no selection however to reinstate them, Murray says.

While going through gamers from these international locations would not actually have an effect on him on courtroom, he can see the way it’s tough for Ukrainians in the identical state of affairs.

“I have competed with players from those countries. I wouldn’t say it’s affected me. I have the utmost sympathy for Ukrainian players who are put in that situation. I can only imagine how difficult that must be for them to deal with.

“The tournaments have been put in a tough state of affairs with the governing our bodies – a few of these occasions with the sanctions positioned on them would not have been capable of survive one other 12 months with out rating factors and the fines – the stuff positioned towards them in the event that they did not permit the Russians and Belarusians to play.

“So it was a really difficult one for the tournaments.”

Murray goes looking for his third Wimbledon title extra in hope than expectation, whereas Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, chases a record-equalling eighth trophy on the All England Club and a record-extending twenty fourth slam in all.

Does that make the Serbian the GOAT now in Murray’s opinion?

“If you go on grand slam titles you have to give it to Novak, but for me it’s slightly more nuanced than that,” he mentioned.