Andy Murray says he has a period in mind for when he would like to end his professional career, a decision he began to think about in his long, gruelling series of matches during his run at the Australian Open in January.
“After the matches I was having, it was like, this maybe isn’t that good for me, like, long term to be playing those sorts of matches,” said Murray. “Yeah, I could keep doing that probably, I don’t know, until the hip finishes. I don’t really want to do that. I want to finish on my terms when I’m fit and healthy and still competing at a good level. I would like to finish in that way rather than it being, like, an injury. I know you can’t control that entirely.
While the end point in his mind is not at all definitive, Murray believes it is important to have one in his thoughts so that he can begin to make plans for life after his career and also so that, mentally, he knows that there will be a time when the sacrifices he has had to make in order to continue playing will come to an end.
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“I do feel like I’ve still got a period of time left where I’m going to be able to dedicate the physical work and the training on the court to allow me to still perform at the highest level. But, yeah, that can’t go on for ever, unfortunately.”
Ten years on from his long-awaited first triumph here, Murray arrives in his 15th Wimbledon full of confidence in his ability to perform at the highest level on grass and piece together a strong run this year. After winning ATP Challenger titles in Surbiton and Nottingham, Murray is confident that both his form and body are in great shape and that he has put himself in a strong position.
Murray will face Ryan Peniston, a British wildcard, in the first round on Tuesday, an opponent he knows well. “We practised together quite a lot,” he said. “He obviously likes playing on the grass courts. He had some really good wins last year at Queen’s and also Jack Draper in Surbiton. I think he beat Holger [Rune] in Eastbourne. Yeah, he’s had some good wins on the surface. Yeah, lefty. Moves very well. I need to be ready for that one.”
On Saturday afternoon, Murray continued his preparations with a training session alongside his old rival, Novak Djokovic, which he said he “did well” in. The pair, 36 and born just a week apart, have been playing together at the same tournaments for nearly three decades. Their practice sessions were once a common sight as the pair battled each other in the biggest tournaments yet remained friendly enough to still regularly train with each other. Today, their increasingly rare practices are a reminder of an era that continues to wind down.
Even though he has not played a single official match since winning his 23rd grand slam title at the French Open, Djokovic remains the clear favourite as he chases an eighth Wimbledon title, which would equal the men’s record set by Roger Federer, and a in a row.
Djokovic asserted that even after his monumental achievement in Paris, he does not feel more relaxed after achieving one of his lifelong goals. Within days of victory, he was already thinking about what he would have to do in order to put himself in the best position to win Wimbledon.
“I don’t feel more relaxed, to be honest,” said Djokovic. “I still feel hungry for success, for more grand slams, more achievements in tennis. As long as there’s that drive, I know that I’m able to compete at the highest level. If that goes down, then I guess I’ll have to face probably different circumstances and have a different approach. So far there’s still the drive. A few days after Roland Garros, I was already thinking about preparation for grass and what needs to be done.”
In light of both Andrea Gaudenzi and Steve Simon, chairmen of the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association respectively, revealing that they have had discussions with Saudi Arabia about potential investment, Murray remains unsure about whether he would or would not compete in any tournaments in the future. Murray has been open about turning down incredibly lucrative financial offers in the past to play exhibition matches there.
“In the past when we were asked to go and play there, we were asked to go and play exhibition tournaments. If they become, like, major tournaments on the tour, it becomes a slightly different question, and it’s a difficult one, really, based on how the tour and the rankings and everything work, how important they are to get into other events and stuff. When you start missing them, you obviously get penalised for that. Yeah, it’s definitely something I would have to think about. Unfortunately it’s the way that a lot of sports seem to be going now,” said Murray.
Djokovic, meanwhile, noted that he is unsurprised by Saudia Arabia holding talks with tennis considering how many other sports the country has invested in. “I think that we as individual sport on a global level are probably closest to golf in terms of how we see sports. I think from that example we can probably learn a lot, some positives, some negatives, and try to structure a deal if it’s going in that direction in a proper way that is going to protect the integrity and tradition and history of this sport, but still be able to grow it in such way that it will be appropriate.”