‘I’m playing for my career’ – Honest Andy Murray admits retirement question is lingering

Andy Murray said it felt like he was playing for his career after fighting back to beat Robin Haase at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Murray, who missed last month’s Australian Open after testing positive for coronavirus, was forced to dig deep to win his first-round match 2-6 7-6 (2) 6-3 in just over two-and-a-half hours.
“It’s not easy,” said the 33-year-old Scot after his first tour-level win since August. “Every time I lose a match I’m getting told to retire, that I should stop playing, that I’m finished and got nothing left or whatever and it’s sad and all of these things.
“It’s not easy. I feel like I’m playing for my career just now, each time I step on court, which is a motivation in some ways.
https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1366497493832269826?s=20
“But it also adds a bit of extra stress. There’s a bit of extra doubt there and on top of that I’m playing with a metal hip, which is hard. Trust me, it’s not easy.
“So it’s a big challenge for me just now and one that I’ll meet head on, but it’s not easy just now. The last few months have been a bit of a struggle.”
The former world number one, 123rd in the ATP rankings, was back on court after losing last week in his first ATP Tour match for four months.
He lost in straight sets to Belarus’ Egor Gerasimov at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.
“I know physically I’m in a better place that I was at then end of 2019, from all of the results I have from all of the gym work and stuff,” he said.
“When I finished in Antwerp in 2019 I felt good physically and then the next time I got on the court I had an issue with my groin and it took ages for that to get better.
“Physically I feel good right now, but you don’t know what’s round the corner and that’s the thing I’ve been more anxious and apprehensive about, more than my tennis.”
Murray lost the first set in Rotterdam in 34 minutes after being broken twice, but saved two break points in the seventh game of the second and held his nerve in the tie-break to level the match.
https://twitter.com/abnamrowtt/status/1366496172429484032?s=20
The Scot fell 3-0 behind after losing his opening service game in the decider, but came storming back against world number 193 Haase and reeled off the last six games to seal a memorable victory.
“From the mental side yeah, I did well to win because I was really struggling with my game for probably about an hour and a half of that match,” added Murray, who said he had recently deleted both his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
“I haven’t really felt like that many times in my career, mis-timing the ball, I was…I don’t know. It was very strange. I didn’t quite know what to do out there.
“When I did feel I was making the right decisions, I was just mis-timing the ball, it wasn’t coming off my racket like usual.
“I didn’t return well and then I found a way and actually at the end, I started to play a bit better – so the mental side and the physical side was positive.
“I moved pretty well and played for two-and-a-half hours and my hips and groin and stuff felt good, so that was positive.
“But from the tennis side, it was average at best.”
Murray will play either Russian fourth seed Andrey Rublev or American Marcos Giron in the second round.
Follow us on Twitter @T365Official and like our Facebook page.
Latest
-
Wimbledon
Cameron Norrie breaks new ground at home Grand Slam
Cameron Norrie defeated Steve Johnson 6-4 6-1 6-0 to make the last 16 at a grand slam for the first time.
-
Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic not concerned about Covid-19 risk
Novak Djokovic is not worried about Covid-19.
-
Wimbledon
Mats Wilander backs Brit to make last eight at SW19
Heather Watson made a statement in her third round win.
-
Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic set for fourth round clash with breakout grass prospect
Van Rijthoven’s rapid rise this summer continued, as he beat Nikoloz Basilashvili to the sound of ‘come on Tim’ at Wimbledon.
-
Wimbledon
Heather Watson banishes the ghost of her epic third round loss to Serena Williams
Watson is through to the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time in his career.
-
Wimbledon
How much John McEnroe earns from BBC commentary gig
John McEnroe walks away with a tidy sum for a fortnight of work.
-
Wimbledon
Ons Jabeur isn’t paid by the hour as she breezes into last 16
The world number two extended her winning streak on grass this summer to eight matches.
-
Tennis News
Heather Watson and Cameron Norrie flying the flag for Britain today at Wimbledon
Only four Brits remain.
-
Tennis News
Carlos Alcaraz finding his feet at SW19 to threaten Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal
He’s becoming a bigger danger to the ‘more experienced.’
-
Wimbledon
Nick Kyrgios punished for spitting at fan in Wimbledon crowd
Bad boy Kyrgios handed yet another fine.