The string of defeats is not snapping for Andy Murray and despite his being exceptionally resilient in the face of it, one wonders how long he can really keep up his motivation level.
His stoicism has to end at some point in light of one defeat after another, with the latest coming on Tuesday at the Open 13 in Marseille, France at the hands of Czech Tomas Machac in straight sets. Many are of the opinion that Murray should call it quits and it’s not bravery — his continuing as a player — but rather foolhardiness. That he is at the end of his tether in international tennis.
There is some basis to these opinions considering he hasn’t won a match since October last year. It came in the first round of the Swiss Indoors. He has since featured in the Paris Masters, Brisbane International, Australian Open, Open Sud de France and Open 13, and in all these tournaments he has exited in the first round itself.
Be that as it may, the tennis world will do him and itself a great favour if they let him play the game as long as he wants to.
Murray is no ordinary player and he deserves this kind of allowance. He may have won his last grand slam way back in 2016 but regardless of the long barren patch, he has successfully etched his name in history, make no mistake. He has won a total of three singles grand slams, not to mention his six singles grand slam appearances in the final with five of them coming at the Australian Open. Besides he has won back-to-back Olympic singles gold medals which no other athlete across men’s and women’s tennis has achieved to date.
At the London Olympics in 2012, he beat Roger Federer in the final. Four years later in Rio, Brazil, he overcame Juan Martin del Potro to pick up his second gold medal. The importance of these medals can be gauged from the fact that even the likes of Federer and Novak Djokovic have not managed to win an Olympic singles gold despite doing their damnedest. Both the tennis legends combine for 44 singles grand slam triumphs — with Djokovic still going strong at 24 — but when it comes to an Olympic gold, they don’t have it in their big trophy cabinets. That’s Andy Murray for you.
One should rather praise him for the kind of character he has shown since his hip surgery in 2018. It brought down his game many notches. He was never going to be the same player but it was not the worst he had gone through yet. He underwent another hip surgery in 2019.
After such setbacks, many give up but not Murray, and despite missing multiple tournaments owing to these surgeries and not being the same player, he returned to the court on both occasions.
After his defeat in the Open Sud de France late last month, a BBC reporter kind of questioned Murray’s decision to keep on playing but not winning enough. The reporter appeared to fear that the 36-year-old was tarnishing his legacy. The Brit replied to the post and what he wrote is the true measure of the man. “Tarnishing my legacy? Do me a favour. I’m in a terrible moment right now, I’ll give you that. Most people would quit and give up in my situation right now. But I’m not most people and my mind works differently. I won’t quit. I will keep fighting and working to produce the performances I know I’m capable of,” Murray wrote on X.
When all is said and done, Murray has earned the right to decide what he wants to do with his career. If he has decided to continue, it’s because he believes he can win a trophy. If not that, at least he is enjoying participating. As far as his legacy is concerned, nothing is going to damage it. Those who have seen Murray play Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and many other top-notch players know very well what kind of rare talent Murray has been in international tennis over the years. Fans and experts, despite their good intentions, for now will do well not to be too judgemental. Leave Murray be! Let him play as long as he wants to play.
