Andy Murray makes imminent retirement admission and reveals French Open plan

Ewan West
Andy Murray talks to the media
Former world No 1 Andy Murray during a media day

Andy Murray has revealed he does not plan on “playing much past this summer” as he gave the clearest confirmation yet that his tennis retirement is imminent after his exit from the Dubai Championships. 

The three-time Grand Slam champion did not divulge whether he had decided which tournament will be his last, but he outlined his hope to play the French Open and the Olympics, as well as Wimbledon.

Murray fell to a routine 2-6, 4-6 defeat to world No 18 Ugo Humbert in the second round of the 2024 Dubai Championships on Wednesday as his struggles in 2024 continued.

The 36-year-old has now lost six of his eight matches this season, although he has improved at his last two events by winning first round matches after a 0-4 start.

During his loss to the 25-year-old Frenchman, the world No 67 expressed his frustration with his display by declaring “I don’t have a clue what I’m doing!”, before adding “awful feelings on the tennis court, horrific.”

READ MORE: Mood has changed around Andy Murray after his crushing defeat in Dubai

In his post-match press conference after falling to Humbert, Murray addressed whether he was approaching the final stages of his career.

“Yeah, 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 Brit 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.”

The former world No 1 was also asked whether he would return to the French Open for the first time since 2020 this year.

“Probably, yeah. Last few years I’ve tried to give myself maybe better preparation for the grass season, but that also doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to play really well on the grass,” Murray explained.

“I’ve had experiences through my career where I didn’t play the French Open in 2013 and I won Wimbledon. I also played the French Open and did really well in 2016. I don’t think it makes a huge difference if you get an extra week’s practice or so on the grass. So yeah, I would like to play one more time.

“I like the tournament. I like playing at Roland Garros. I mean, obviously, yeah, if you want to do well at the Olympics, you probably are going to have to play some tournaments and get matches in on the clay. Yeah, even if the Olympics was not after Wimbledon, I would still want to play it.”

Murray has played the French Open just once since reaching the semi-finals in 2017 — the season where he suffered the hip injury that required two surgeries.

The 2024 Olympic Games will be held after the Wimbledon Championships from 27 July to 4 August at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, meaning this could well be Murray’s final event given the summer timeline he mentioned.

READ MORE: Andy Murray suggests change he made to copy Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer is behind his struggles