Andy Murray confirms retirement from tennis after Paris Olympics
Sir Andy Murray has confirmed that he will retire from tennis after taking part in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The three-time grand slam champion, renowned for being Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era, is set to play in the singles and doubles in what will be his last tournament.
He made the announcement on Tuesday via X (formerly Twitter), writing: "Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament. Competing for Team GB has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I'm extremely proud to get to do it one final time!"
Winning titles
Andy won his first Grand Slam title at the 2012 US Open a year before ending Britain's 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men's singles champion in 2013. He then added a second victory at the All England Club in 2016.
When winning Wimbledon for the first time, Andy joked that he felt "slightly different" to the previous year when he was defeated by Roger Federer in the 2012 final.
"Last year was one of the toughest moments of my career, so to manage to win the tournament today," he said. "It was an unbelievably tough match, so many long games. How I managed to come through that last game... it was unbelievable."
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On defeating Novak Djokovic, the Scotsman added: "I've played Novak many times and when everyone's finished playing he's going to down as one of the biggest fighters.
"He's come back so many times from losing positions and he almost did the same again today. That made it extra tough and I just managed to squeeze through in the end.
"That win was for myself but I also understand how much everyone else wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I tried my best."
Andy is also a five-time Australian Open runner-up, as well as a French Open finalist. Among his achievements, Andy has won two gold medals at the Olympics.
The dad-of-four reached his first major semi-final and final at the 2008 US Open, where he lost in the final to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Injuries
Andy's decision to retire follows a turbulent period for the Scotsman, who has undergone two hip surgeries in a desperate attempt to return to his former glory. He first underwent surgery in 2018, and underwent hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, admitting he was living in pain every day after suffering from a debilitating injury.
Despite being plagued by various injuries, Andy's focus had remained on winning matches. "For now, I'm still focussed on playing tennis and winning matches," he told HELLO! in 2022.
"I've been pleased with my progress this year, but there are definitely some areas to improve on.
"I'll be doing a training block in December so we'll be hoping to identify some of those areas and work on them, so hopefully I can get some more wins under my belt next year."
Support network
Andy has credited his mother Judy Murray and wife Kim for his incredible career.
During a previous chat with HELLO!, Kim revealed how proud she is of her husband. "It's great he is still so focussed," she shared. "He goes out there wanting to win every single match and we are very proud of him."
In 2015, shortly after tying the knot, the tennis champion praised the "sacrifice" Kim has made for his career.
In an interview with the New York Times, Andy was uncharacteristically open about his relationship with his then new-wife, whom he has been with since 2005.
Asked about the attention that she gets in the press, particularly during major tournaments, he said: "I know she doesn't like that and doesn't want that.
"We've never asked for that. It's not something that she courts. She doesn't like being in the newspapers, and people commenting on what she's wearing and how she looks, and those sorts of things."
He added: "That's one of the things that I guess she's also sacrificed, a little bit, for our relationship, and I appreciate that a lot. But hopefully, there's only a few more years left of it, and then we can get away from all of that stuff."
Andy's coaches
Despite winning three Grand Slam singles titles, two Olympic gold medals and the Davis Cup, Andy has had a rollercaoster journey with his coaching staff.
His most notable coach was Ivan Lendl, who won three French opens, three US opens and two Australian opens during his 16-year career. He was the man who managed to help get Andy his two Wimbledon titles, two Olympic gold medals, as well as the US open in 2012.
They first worked together between 2011 and 2014, before reuniting two years later, which coincided with Andy winning his second Wimbledon title and swiftly becoming world number one for the first time.
However, they parted ways in 2017, with Ivan going on to work with Alexander Zverev. "Ivan has been by my side at the biggest moments in my career and I can't thank him enough for all that he's helped me achieve," Andy said in a statement at the time.
"He's a unique character, who understands what it takes to win and I've learned an awful lot over the years from him."
Ivan added: "I will look back with some great memories of the time Andy and I worked together. He's as hard a worker as there is and the sport is better because of him. I wish him only the best in the years to come."
Andy continued to work with Jonny O'Mara and Mark Hilton, who joined his coaching staff in 2022. "Just his level of dedication is incredible," Jonny previously said of working with Andy.
"Every single day he's doing everything he can to maximise his level, maximise what his body can do. That for me is the most impressive thing, and also his love for the game.
"That's something that people don't quite see is how much he loves the game, how much he wants to improve, how much motivation he does have for that. It's been an absolute privilege to see him up close."
Andy had previously parted ways with long-term friend and coach Jamie Delgado at the end of 2021, and has also briefly worked with the likes of Esteban Carrill, Jan De Witt and Dani Vallverdu.
