‘I wish I could play forever’ : Murray

AFP, London :

Andy Murray suffered a losing start in his farewell to Wimbledon on Thursday, weeping openly in front of his adoring fans before admitting: “I wish I could play forever.”

Murray, a two-time singles champion at Wimbledon, and brother Jamie were defeated 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 by Rinky Hijikata and John Peers of Australia in the first round of men’s doubles.

It was the first episode of a retirement three-parter-the 37-year-old Murray is scheduled to play mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon before he retires at the Paris Olympics.

After having a metal hip inserted in 2019, suffering ankle damage this year and undergoing surgery to remove a cyst from his spine which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon, Murray has reluctantly accepted the writing is on the wall.

His career has yielded three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals, a Davis Cup and the world number-one ranking.

“Look it’s hard because I would love to keep playing but I can’t. Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant,” he said.

“I want to play forever, I love the sport and it’s given me so much. It’s taught me loads of lessons over the years I can use for the rest of my life. I don’t want to stop so it is hard.”

He added: “It was obviously really special to play with Jamie.

“We never got the chance to do it before (at Wimbledon). It was a bit of a race to get out here. Physically, it wasn’t easy but I am glad we did it.”

Tears flowed when video tributes were paid to Murray by a number of stars including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.