Jamie Murray has taken on a new role in tennis after it was announced that he would be the new tournament director at Queen’s. It means that the 37-year-old will no longer be able to compete in the cinch Championships, or in the week before the event. However, the elder Murray brother won’t be heading into retirement to take the new Queen’s job as he previously shared his plans to compete through 2024 with Express Sport.
The LTA announced on Wednesday that seven-time doubles Grand Slam champion Murray would head up the ATP 500 event staged at the Queen’s Club in the lead-up to Wimbledon. It comes after he successfully staged multiple editions of the Battle of the Brits exhibition, which saw the likes of Andy Murray and Jack Draper compete in teams.
Fans don’t have to worry about whether Murray will give up his doubles career for his new tournament director role though, as the current world No 16 had already shared his goals for next season before the announcement and isn’t planning to stop playing. Murray linked up with Michael Venus to form a formidable pairing this year and they are set to continue into 2024.
“I think that’s the plan. I think we’ve both enjoyed this year, getting stuck in together,” the elder Murray brother told Express Sport at the end of the 2023 season. “Kind of got a good team around us, both live in and around London and stuff so we can train together outside of the tournaments which I think is beneficial for us.”
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Reflecting on his first full year playing with the Kiwi, he continued: “I think we did a decent job. I’m sure all teams say the same, like lost a few close matches that maybe we could’ve done better in that maybe would’ve put us in a better position for the race but I think for us for a first season, it’s been very solid.
“Like, we’ve won matches in all the Masters, we didn’t do well enough really in the Grand Slams but I think overall we’ve won a lot of matches, we’ve competed hard, played a lot of tennis. Hopefully that benefits us for next year.” And Murray is hoping that an improvement at the Majors could help him lift another Grand Slam title.
The Brit has two men’s doubles trophies and five mixed doubles crowns to his name, with his latest victory coming alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the 2019 US Open. Explaining whether he and Venus could become Grand Slam champions next season, he added: “I think so.
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“I think [there are] a couple of improvements we can probably make as a team which maybe held us back a bit at times. But I think if we can stay on top of that then I think good things will happen for us.”
Although Murray is still planning to compete next season, he won’t be able to enter his own tournament as he will be too busy in his new role at Queen’s. The 37-year-old also cannot compete in the week leading up to the cinch Championships as he gets stuck in with final preparations. It remains to be seen whether Venus picks up a temporary partner to get some matches in during that portion of the grass-court season.
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