Andy Murray To Retire by the End of Wimbledon 2019

[Satchmo Distel]

I think this deserves a thread of its own.

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/i...-tennis-future

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ustralian-open

I spent most of my life up to age 40 thinking a Brit would never win Wimbledon before I die. Henman got close but was not in Murray's class. To sustain just about a decade in the world Top 4 is phenomenal, and had he lived in an average era rather than the toughest era ever, he would have doubled his Slam count at least.

One of Britain's sporting greats for sure. Did things on court very few players in history could do. A magical player at his best.

[Gerontophile]

Nothing much to add to that. Seems like a thoroughly decent man, too.

[ad hoc]

Based on the press conference he just made it sounds like he'll be retiring next week after losing in the first round at Melbourne

But yes, a genuinely great athlete and seemingly an excellent bloke to boot

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Echo what has and will be said about never thinking we'd see a British player win Wimbledon. Not to mention a British team win the Davis Cup. Retire with pride, Sir Andy, go and get your hip sorted, and come back to be a commentator. I reckon released from the shackles of player speak protocol you'll sparkle in the commentary box.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Yes, what Satchmo said. My favourite sportsman probably, bar none.

[Felicity, I guess so]

I don’t give a shit about Brits or the Davis Cup but echo what’s been said about him as a fella. Tough time from the Brit media, too but dealt with it intelligently and honourably.

[Nocturnal Submission]

A wonderful player and a rotten way to have to end his playing career.

[longeared]

The way the British press completely lost their shit when he appointed Mauresmo as his coach was just ... weird.

Always thought he was going to be a nearly man, then in the middle of his career he pushed on and started winning big things. And kept winning big things while still remaining grounded and a decent bloke. Think he's the greatest sportsperson Britain has produced this century, and I say that as someone who doesn't give two fucks about tennis.

[Ray de Galles]

Sad but unsurprising news and typically frank of him to admit how much he’s struggling and with such genuine emotion.

I think he’s the greatest British sportsman of my lifetime given his level of achievement set against the base of the country’s usual level in the sport.

The 2012 Wimbledon final he lost to Federer was the first sporting event I attended after my then football club imploded and the exhilarating excitement & tension of it underlined to me how much more was out there than the slavish week-in/week-out following of a single team.

Every time I’ve seen him play since has been an absolute bloody privilege that I’ll miss hugely.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

A wonderful player and a rotten way to have to end his playing career.

It is a terrible ending - I was hoping we'd get at least one Wimbledon run from him for old times' sake (like Jimmy Connors in the US in 1991). One of those things that makes you feel old, doesn't seem very long since he was breaking through as a promising teenager and now he's at the end of his career.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think he’s the greatest British sportsman of my lifetime given his level of achievement set against the base of the country’s usual level in the sport.

Excellent point. That's a great measure, Ray. It's one thing to be a great rower, F1 driver, golfer or cyclist given the UK's historic depth in those sports but tennis had always, in the open era, been one of the UK's lowest performing sports, highlighted embarrassingly by the UK hosting the sport's biggest event but having nobody who could even make the second week.

Henman paved the way but never made a GS final and for most of his career was reliant on the anomalous nature of the Wimbledon surface at that time, which many good players never adapted to. Murray won it when the surface was far more comparable to the other Slams but also had far more dimensions to his game and could make shots that were unbelievable. His mobility was in the absolute top tier of players I have seen. Sadly it fucked up his hip and his priority now has to be to do whatever surgery is necessary to remove that pain, so he can enjoy his well earned retirement.

As for his graceful, humble and charitable character , I cannot think of a sportsperson who had a better one. Look at his advocacy for women players, for example; and his background as a Dunblane kid was also crucial.

[RobW]

Lovely tribute from Billie Jean King https://twitter.com/BillieJeanKing/s...67728869498881

[diggedy derek]

What a player, what a stand up guy. I can't think of anything bad to say about him, and he made the absolute most of everything he had.

[NHH]

The Guardian linked to this piece by Martina Navratilova from 2005 where she says he is an amazing player, but the challenge is whether his body can take it, because the lomng arms and legs that gave him the mobioity and ability to get the ball back over the net would also knacker his joints :-(

[Nocturnal Submission]

Yes, and I think that when a professional sportman or woman's body begins to break down with the wear and tear of their constant physical exertions, it probably best to take measures to ensure that they can live the rest of their lives in as comfortable and pain-free way as possible, rather than trying to coax a few more tournaments, seasons or whatever out of it.

[ursus arctos]

I was never anywhere near international level, but when I demonstrated what rowing in an eight looked like to the orthopedist who had done my knee surgery, he said:

"Well, you can certainly do that for four years, or you can walk after age 35"

It wasn't a difficult choice.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Indeed!

[San Bernardhinault]

I want to add another voice to those saying what a remarkably well grounded and decent bloke Murray seems to have remained. Particularly when he's been criticised for having opinions he's still never reverted to standard sportsman platitude-speak. On top, of course, of managing to remain in the the very top tier of the sport while it has been played at the highest level in history.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

"I was never anywhere near international level, but when I demonstrated what rowing in an eight looked like to the orthopedist who had done my knee surgery, he said:

"Well, you can certainly do that for four years, or you can walk after age 35"

It wasn't a difficult choice."

Ha, yes, I once shared a room at my old firm with a guy who had issues (a back problem in his case) from too many years rowing. I guess I should be grateful that I wasn't big enough to be given the opportunity to spend nine terms rowing in my youth as I had been hoping to, and that my opportunities to row since (in middle age) now I'm back in Cambridge, have also been limited.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

The way he was talking this morning doesn't sound like he expects to put up much of a fight against Agut - or, indeed, last the first set. Wouldn't it be better for him to withdraw now and let a lucky loser into the draw?

[Nefertiti2]

A great tennis player and a great guy for so many reasons some of which are outlined by Billie Jean above and others in the tweet below.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/AdamRamsay/status/1083657157206294528

[Bored Of Education]

Endorse everything here about him. As Ray says, to do well in a sport that has such a low bar in Britain is a brilliant achievement. Also, he has come through and won in an era with Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. It seems to me that tennis in my lifetime has been dominated by two players overlapping at the start and end of their careers with players from previous/next generations. Murray has had to compete with two direct contemporaries in Djokovic and Nadal and then the everlasting Federer. In another era, he might have even won more than he has now.

What struck me about what he said this morning was that he may have another operation, not to return to his tennis but for his quality of life as even putting on his shoes and socks is painful. I have got a bad hip presently and some of us of a certain age know what it is like to groan a bit while getting up out of a chair or putting our shoes on but this is a 31 year old man and he has been trying to play top level tennis for the last couple of years in what is, obviously, extreme pain.

[multipleman78]

I am going to miss watching him. He was such an entertaining player due to his hilarious on court assessment of himself, ability to turn routine wins into 4 hour epics and remarkable comebacks when all seemed lost. It's such a shame that he was struck down once he finally got to the top of the mountain. I think we all assumed that one day in the next decade Federer would be the man to end the Big 4 era, instead it is the 2nd youngest of the quartet who brings the curtain down on the best sporting competition i have seen in my lifetime. Sport has become corporate, sanitised and lacking in soul, tennis being no stranger to those trends, but those 4 seemed to rise above all of that. Their 15 year battle for supremacy has been pure sporting theatre.

Murray's narrative of being the weakest member of the 4 was so captivating due to his tenacity. He suffered so many setbacks against those 3 bohemoths but never relented in the chase. It made his triumphs so much sweeter and more memorable than some of his rivals successes in Grand Slams. For me, the best night watching Murray was his maiden win in a Grand Slam final. I know his first Wimbledon triumph was bigger in this country but that 5 hour see-sawing epic in New York was quintessential Murray. Murray is so adept at creating drama that i wouldn't be surprised if he embarks on an emotional and legendary deep run at the Australian Open or Wimbledon.

Us Scottish folk are left with quite a large sporting void although i hear Cameron Norrie has a Scottish father.

[Satchmo Distel]

Chances of him lasting until Wimbledon must be very slim. Why endure six more months of pain just for one encore?