Daniil Medvedev’s lovely tribute to ‘fun guy’ Andy Murray – ‘It’s going to be sad’

Shahida Jacobs 29 Feb 2024 6:33 AM

Daniil Medvedev and Andy Murray with their trophies

Daniil Medvedev (L) of Russia and Andy Murray of Britain attend the trophy presentation ceremony

Daniil Medvedev has described Andy Murray as “an inspiration of mine” as he paid homage to the tennis great after Murray confirmed that his retirement from the sport is imminent.

After weeks of speculation, former world No 1 Murray decided he had enough in terms of the rumours as he addressed the issue after his second-round exit from the Dubai Tennis Championship on Wednesday.

“I mean I’m likely not gonna play past the summer. You know, I get asked about it [retirement] after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play, and I’m bored of the question to be honest,” the three-time Grand Slam winner, who made his ATP Tour debut in 2005, said.

“And yeah, I’m not gonna talk about that more between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But yeah, I don’t plan on playing much past this summer.”

READ MORE: Andy Murray makes imminent retirement admission and reveals French Open plan

He also confirmed that he hopes to feature at two more majors – the French Open and Wimbledon – while he will most likely bring down the curtain on his wonderful career that has seen him win 46 singles titles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which runs from July 27 to August 4 at Roland Garros.

And naturally, the tributes have started flowing with 2021 US Open winner Medvedev praising Murray’s humour and the fact that he managed to compete with the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic when they were in their prime as they formed the Big Four.

“First of all, he’s a fun guy, a great guy to be around. That’s always a great quality in life,” the former world No 1, who has a 3-0 record against Murray with the last of those wins coming in the final of the 2023 Qatar Open, said.

“For sure he’s an inspiration of mine because I remember when I was just going up the rankings, that’s the moment when he was winning Slams, playing finals against Roger, Rafa and Novak. So the ‘Big Four’.

“It’s going to be sad when he retires. Even I’m definitely not sure that he’s going to stop this year.

“Wimbledon is a big tournament, maybe Wimbledon and then stop. But while he’s here, it’s going to be fun. [When] he’s not here, I’m sure he’s going to find a good spot in his life after tennis.”