Andy Murray announced this Australian Open “almost certainly” will be his last tournament, bringing to a painful end a career in which he won three grand slam titles and was honoured with a knighthood.
Talking in a hushed voice and struggling to hold back the tears, the 31-year-old Scot said: “I’m not feeling good. I’ve been struggling for a long time. Been in a lot of pain for 20 months now. Pretty much done everything I could to make my hip feel better.
“Wimbledon is where I would like to stop playing but I’m not certain I’ll be able to do that. I’m not certain I can play through the pain for another four or five months.”
Murray said he consulted the Australian surgeon John O’Donnell on Thursday, and that convinced him he could not carry on. He played just 12 matches in 2018 after O’Donnell performed hip surgery on him here a year ago.
Murray said he will now contemplate more drastic surgery to handle the pain and try to lead “a normal life”.
In an emotional press conference of less than 10 minutes, he had to leave the room after the first question, returning to do as best he could to relay his dismay. Tennis has been his life and the pain will be as much spiritual as physical when he leaves Melbourne for the last time as a player.
Murray won two of his three slams bearing the burden of chronic back pain and had to resort to an operation last year to carry on. The hip has bothered him for many years, also, he said. “I can’t even put my shoes or socks on without any pain,” he said – a small private detail that said much.
Murray will be remembered as not just Britain’s best ever player but one of the most committed and courageous.
He went on: “I have a severely damaged right hip, having the operation last year was to give it the best possible chance of being better. I can play with limitations. But having the limitations and the pain is not allowing me to enjoy competing or training.”
Murray will contest his first-round match against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut on Monday but that may prove to be the final match of his illustrious career.
The 31-year-old said: “I’m going to play. I can still play to a level. Not a level that I’m happy playing at. But it’s not just that. The pain is too much really and I don’t want to continue playing that way.
Quick guide
Key moments that shaped a glittering career
Murray begins the year splitting from his coach Mark Petchey and replacing Tim Henman as British No 1 and goes on to claim more early-career landmarks: he beats Roger Federer for the first time, in Ohio, and wins his first ATP Tour event in San Jose, California, in front of Kim Sears, later Mrs Murray.
Murray produces a straight-sets demolition of Roger Federer in the Olympic final at Wimbledon. He then goes on to win his first major, beating Novak Djokovic in New York in a five-set epic, finishing close to midnight, becoming the first British man since Fred Perry in the 1930s to win a singles slam title.
Murray had raised hopes of emulating Perry at Wimbledon when he reached the final in 2012, only to come up against Roger Federer and a closed roof, which benefited the Swiss. A year later, however, on a boiling hot day at SW19, he faced down Novak Djokovic for the second time in three slam finals and won again, in straight sets, although he said he could hardly serve in the final game. He ended the 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion, against the man considered the
best in the world at the time.
The defence of his Wimbledon title in 2014 had not gone as planned, but two years later he showed he was back to his best. Against Milos Raonic in the final in SW19, he nullified the Canadian’s huge serve and cantered to victory in straight sets, leaving him one shy of Perry’s total of three Wimbledon wins.
Murray had won gold in the 2012 Games on familiar turf but Rio de Janeiro presented different challenges, yet he overcame those to make Olympic history. He beat Juan Martín del Potro in five sets in the final and became the first man or woman to win consecutive singles tennis golds.
Murray’s total career prize money from his singles and doubles successes combined
His total career singles titles, with an overall match win-loss ratio of 663-190 (77.73%)
“During my training block I spoke to my team and told them I can’t keep doing this. I needed to have an end point because I was sort of playing with no idea when the pain was going to stop. I said to my team, look I think I can get through this until Wimbledon. That’s where I’d like to stop playing. But I’m also not certain I’m able to do that.”
“I’ve spoken to psychologists about it but nothing helps because you’re in lots and lots of pain and you can’t do what you want to do, what you love doing. It’s not enjoyable doing it anymore.”
He added: “I’ve talked way too much about my hip for 18 months. It’s a daily thing. It’s not just people I work with that ask me, it’s everyone. Everyone I bump into asks me about it, it’s pretty draining.
“The operation didn’t help with the pain at all. The walking and certain things on the court I can’t do properly even now, but it’s the pain that’s the driving issue. Having the limitations and also the pain is not allowing me to enjoy competing or training.
Quick guide
But where there were ups, there were downs
Few had expected Murray to beat Nadal in the semi-finals in New York but he did, raising hopes he could somehow produce the same result against Federer in the final. Despite some flashes of resistance, he lost to the dominant Swiss in straight sets.
Five times Murray reached the final of the year’s first major and five times he lost: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. No one has lost that many times in a slam final without ever winning it at some stage. The closest he came was defeat in four sets in 2013 and 2015, both to Djokovic.
A stellar year ended on something of a low note. He already had hip problems and he had withdrawn from the French Open in May so he finally took the decision to try and sort out the issues in time for the next season in order to defend his hard-won Wimbledon title.
Eleven years into his professional career he broke new ground at Roland Garros. For so long he had failed to produce performances that matched his world ranking but then he reached the final in Paris. His old nemesis, Djokovic, was there, lying in wait again.
Given his condition at Wimbledon in 2017, where he limped and lost to Sam Querrey in the quarters, it was clear something had to be done. Hip surgery wasn’t a surprise in early 2018, but the location – Melbourne – was and slow recovery meant he only played the US Open.
“I’m realistic in knowing that it’s not an easy thing to come back to play professional sport to a high level. It has been done, Bob Bryan [the successful doubles player] had this operation post-Wimbledon last year. I’ve had lots of communication with him about it.
“There’s little things like day to day which are also a struggle. It would be nice to do them without any pain. Putting shoes on, socks on, things like that. That’s the main reason for doing it.
“I have an option to have another operation, which is a little more severe than what I’ve had before but would give me a better quality of life. Some athletes have had that and come back to competing but there’s no guarantees of that. The reason to have it is not to return.”
Murray has played some of the best tennis of his career in 12 visits to Melbourne, although he has been cursed to meet Novak Djokovic in four finals and Roger Federer in the fifth. His last final here in Melbourne was in 2016 when he lost in straight sets to Djokovic.
On Thursday, in front of several thousand fans on Margaret Court Arena, Murray looked decidedly uncomfortable and off the pace in a truncated workout with Djokovic. He held serve just once as the Serb – still reaching for his best tennis – won 10 of the 12 games contested before their allotted time ran out.