Three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray has said that he has ‘no regrets’ about not walking away from tennis after what has been a roller coaster past 18 months.
Murray is currently ranked 256th in the world following a lengthy injury absence. At the 2017 Wimbledon championships he was forced to retire from his quarter-final match due to a hip injury. The hip issue sidelined the Brit from action for 11 months as he underwent surgery in January. Murray returned to the tour in June and played in a total of six tournaments before deciding to end his season early. His best performance was a run to the quarter-finals of the Washington Open during the summer.
Speaking with reporters in Australia ahead of the new season, Murray said he was ‘happy’ that he didn’t retire from the sport. So far in his career, the 31-year-old has won 45 titles on the ATP Tour and has spent 41 weeks as world No.1.
“You want to go out on your own terms,” AFP news quoted Murray as saying.
“If I decided to stop six months ago, having not played or gotten back to a level where I can compete again, I would have looked back and regretted that.
“I owed it to myself to give myself the best possible shot to get back to a level I was happy with.
“I am able to compete at a high level, but I have to back it up a few days in a row. That’s the challenge.”
Murray is looking for a strong start to the new season at the Brisbane International. An event he has won on two previous occasions back in 2012 and 2013. Twelve months ago, he was forced to withdraw from the event after his attempted comeback failed.
“There are still things that I want to achieve,” he said.
“Whether I am capable of that I don’t really know.”
One of Murray’s dreams is to win the Australian Open before he retires, if he returns back to full fitness. Until the present day he continues to experience pain in his hip region. At the Melbourne major, he has had to settle for runner-up five times since 2010. The last of those occurring in 2016 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
“I would love to win the French Open as well but because I have been so close so many times that (Australian Open) is the one I would pick to win if I could.” Murray explained.
Murray is set to play in Brisbane for only the third time in his career. The main draw will get underway on Monday.
