Andy Murray clarifies 'not rational' six-word outburst as star claims he only has a 'few months' left

NEWBIE IN FOREIGN LAND February 27, 2024 0

Andy Murray has dropped a major hint that he will soon be retiring from professional tennis, admitting he only has a 'few months' left.

However, the Brit says people shouldn't read too much into what he says on court, claiming he is often 'not rational' during a match.

Murray came from a set down to beat Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.

It was just the 36-year-old's second win since last October in what has been an incredibly tough spell on court for the two-time Wimbledon champion.

Murray ended a six-match losing run in the first round at the Qatar Open last week, overcoming Alexandre Muller in straight sets.

However, he was knocked out in the second round in Doha by 18-year-old Czech star Jakub Mensik.

During the second set of the clash, Murray dropped a big clue that he could soon be hanging up his racket.

After hitting a shot into the net, he was picked up by TV cameras saying: "This game's not for me anymore."

Murray clarified those comments following his win over Shapovalov, claiming he is often irrational with what he says during a match.

However, he did admit that he is finding life tough on court and said he won't be around for much longer.

Murray said: "People read a lot into what I say on the court sometimes and it's not always rational.

"I still love competing, I still love the game. It gets harder and harder the older you get to compete with the young guys. You've got to keep your body fit and fresh.

"It's not easy, I probably don't have too long left but I'll do the best that I can these last few months."

Murray's victory in Dubai was his 500th career win on a hard court surface.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal are the only other players to have achieved that feat.

Murray is pleased to have reached the milestone before he calls it a day.

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He added: "Yeah it's not bad. Obviously hard courts have been a great surface for me over the years. Five hundred, it's a lot of matches. I'm very proud of that.

"There's not many players that have done that. It's great to get to 500 before I'm done."

Murray lost the first set 6-4 against Shapovalov but came back to win the next two 7-6, 6-3.

He will face either Gael Monfils or Ugo Humbert in the last 16 on Thursday.

Murray was pleased to get through, reflecting: "Both of us haven't won too many matches lately and he missed a large part of last year.

"On these courts, he's obviously played well here in the past and his serving is unbelievable and you need to try and get the balance right between just reacting to his big shots but not just trying to put balls in the court.

"It wasn't easy but I managed to get it done in the end."

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