Andy Murray in a race against time to be fit for Wimbledon seems like a familiar story. But this time, in his planned final season, it has a new poignancy. Because screaming in agony on an outside court at the Miami Open before losing to the world No.60 is no way for one of the sport’s modern greats to say goodbye.
The former world No.1 had admitted earlier this month that he will “likely not play past this summer” when his last event was set to be Wimbledon or playing doubles at the Paris Olympics. Late on Monday night UK time he posted on Instagram the news that he had ruptured two ankle ligaments in his ankle and would be out for “an extended period”.
The Scot, who turns 37 in May, will now return to London and see an ankle specialist to get a more detailed diagnosis. He had been scheduled to play next at the Monte-Carlo Masters on April 7 at the start of the claycourt season before a final French Open.
His best hope now appears a return for the grasscourt season and getting some match practice before the start of Wimbledon on July 1.
Last year Murray played – and won – Challenger events in Nottingham and Surbiton before Queen’s Club. All predictions and permutations are up in the air for now. What is certain is that this knight of the realm, a three-time Grand Slam champion and double Olympic gold medallist deserves to go out on his own terms and in the right way.
Yet the timing of retirement for top stars is so difficult – and the longer you leave it, the less control you have. Pete Sampras never played again after his then-record 14th Grand Slam title at the 2002 US Open at the age of 31. Roger Federer lost his final set 6-0 to Hubert Hurkacz in the 2020 Wimbledon quarter-finals aged 39 and his knees stopped him playing competitively again.
The All England Club, where Murray became the first British male singles winner since Fred Perry, would have been the logical place to play his final match. But the Paris Olympics are later in July and an au revoir in the doubles was also a possibility.
Murray is famously indecisive. He pulled out of Wimbledon in 2007 late on Sunday evening with a wrist injury and withdrew late in 2018 because he did not feel ready to compete. In 2019, he played the men’s and mixed doubles – with Serena Williams – at Wimbledon and no singles.
He has made miracle recoveries before and returned to win on the ATP Tour in October 2019 following his January hip surgery. But as you get older, recovery takes longer. And after winning only five matches in his first eight tournaments this year, the world No.62 faces a battle with his body and his motivation to return again.
Yet his stubbornness, bloody mindedness and sheer will to win are much greater than even his indecisiveness. Speaking before the Australian Open in January, he admitted: “One of the reasons for probably why I’ve been able to get back to the level that I’ve got to is because my brain works probably differently to most people.”
If not this summer, Murray could return next year and take a final Wimbledon wildcard in 2025 on the 20th anniversary of his first appearance as a wobbly teenager. That would be a proper farewell. Not like this. The Scot admitted in his Instagram posting “this is a tough one to take” before adding: “I’ll be back with 1 (one) hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
