SCOTLAND has woken up to the news that all the nation’s sports fans has long been dreading: Sir Andy Murray plans to retire after this year’s Wimbledon.
In an emotional press conference at the Australian Open in Melbourne, the 31-year-old spoke tearfully of his struggles to recover from the hip surgery which he underwent in Australia this time last year. While he will still play his first round match at Melbourne Park this year, against Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain, the three-time Grand Slam and two-time winner said he wasn’t even sure the troublesome joint would last until the grass courts of England.
READ MORE: Tributes flood in as Andy Murray announces retirement plans
"I'm not sure I'm able to play through the pain for another four or five months,” he said during a press conference which saw him break down in tears and leave the room. "I want to get to Wimbledon and stop but I'm not certain I can do that."
The former World No 1 has played just 14 matches since undergoing surgery last January and ended his 2018 season in September to spend time working with rehabilitation expert Bill Knowles out in Philadelphia. Minds in the Scots camp have been focused further since he looked short of the required level when playing world No 1 Novak Djokovic in an open practice match at Melbourne Park on Thursday
"I'm not feeling good, I've been struggling for a long time,” said Murray in his press conference. "I've been in a lot of pain for about 20 months now. I've pretty much done everything I could to try and get my hip feeling better and it hasn't helped loads.
"I'm in a better place than I was six months ago but I'm still in a lot of pain. I can still play to a level, but not a level I have played at. The pain is too much, I need to think about my quality of life.”
Murray concedes that he is no longer able to perform to the level which saw him win the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 and admitted he wouldn’t rule out further surgery in order to alleviate the pain he feels each day, something which would likely end his career there and then.
READ MORE: FROM THE ARCHIVE: Andy Murray wins first Grand Slam title with triumph in US
"The pain is too much really," he said. "I need to have an end point because I'm playing with no idea of when the pain will stop.
"I'd like to play until Wimbledon - that's where I'd like to stop playing - but I'm not certain I'm able to do that.
"I have the option of another operation which a little bit more severe - and involves having my hip resurfaced - which would allow me to have a better quality of life and be free of pain.
"That's something I'm seriously considering now. Some athletes have had it and gone back to competing but there's no guarantee of that. If I had it, it would be to have a better quality of life."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel