Andy Murray retirement: Former world No 4 ‘really hopes’ this won’t be Scot’s last Wimbledon
Andy Murray is set for his 15th Wimbledon main draw appearance next week and former Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist admits he hopes this won’t be the last time that the former world No 1 plays at SW19.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray celebrated his 36th birthday in May and there had been suggestions at the start of the year that this could well be his final year on Tour.
However, the tennis great is constantly defying expectations as he has produced some of his best tennis in recent years despite playing with a metal hip.
At the start of the year he spent more than 14 hours on court over three matches at the Australian Open and then finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev at the Qatar Open.
He then won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in nearly two decades at Aix-en-Provence Challenger in France. The former champion also came up just short of being seeded at Wimbledon following back-to-back grass-court titles at the Challenger Tour Surbiton Trophy and Nottingham Open events.
Former world No 4 Enqvist admits he “just loves everything” about Murray and hopes the tennis icon will play at the All England Club for years to come.
“I really hope this won’t be his last Wimbledon,” the Swede is quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “He’s an incredible champion with everything he has achieved but I also just love everything about this guy.
“I went to see him in France and it’s just so nice to see the passion he has for the game. The work effort he put in and the way he practices before the games. This is a guy who has won almost everything, an unbelievable career, you see how hard he is working. He’s playing better and better.
“Grass is a surface he’s very, very good on so if he can stay healthy and gets a good start it will be interesting to see how he gets on.”
Murray himself recently revealed that he has “an idea” about his retirement date, but added that it won’t be in the near future.
“I want to finish my career on the tennis court. It’s something I have an idea about when it is I would like to stop and a plan for that – certainly nothing immediate,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’m very proud after what happened with my hip because I was at the peak of my career when the problem really started so it was a really tough few years for me but I also didn’t know when I was going to be able to compete at the highest level again after I had the operation.”
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