Andy Murray thumbs his nose at critics of his return

ATP Tour

James Richardson
July 31, 2022

Former World No 1 Andy Murray says he doesn’t pay any attention to those who feel he has no business being on the court.

Murray says that he enjoys the life of a tour professional and enjoys the process of improving his game.

Having returned to the game after a full hip replacement, Murray’s resilience has been lauded while others have criticised him for accepting wildcards to big tournaments.

The three-time Grand Slam winner reiterated that he will continue to play as long as he feels that he is progressing as a player.

“It has also given me a purpose each day. There is a routine because you’re always trying to improve yourself and get better at something. I enjoy that process.

“I love this sport. That’s essentially why I am back and why I wanted to keep going: because I love the sport.

“There’s a lot of people that feel like maybe I shouldn’t be playing.
“But I love tennis, and I love competing, and I feel like I can get better than where I am today.

“If I reach that point where I don’t feel like I can improve or that things are maybe going backward, then that would maybe change where I’m at.”

Murray has committed all of his tour winnings to war relief programmes in Ukraine.

“What is happening in Ukraine is horrifying,” Murray said.

“You can never put yourself exactly in their shoes; I’m aware of that. But it must be absolutely terrifying, heartbreaking and scary.

“I wanted to do something, and the only thing I can probably offer is to give money to try and help the children that are being displaced from their families.

“It [the fundraising matching] is brilliant. It shows that when the players and the tournaments work together, really good things can happen. Hopefully I can have a good run and lots of the fans can get involved too and raise a lot of money this week.

“You can’t just forget about this [the Russian invasion and the ensuing conflict]. It’s still going on. People are still getting killed, children are still having to flee their homes, and are in really, really tragic situations.

“It’s important that the media continues to shine a light on it, keep talking about it.”

Andy Murray