Andy Murray says he has ‘a retirement date in mind’ ahead of Wimbledon
Tim Henman has pleaded with Andy Murray to “keep going” for as long as he wants as the blockbuster British star prepares to have another crack at the US Open. Murray, who had two hip surgeries to save his career, turned 36 in May but still looks hungry to play in the biggest tournaments after reaching the second round of this year’s Wimbledon.
“He’s still out there competing and playing because he loves it,” Henman said. “Being a professional athlete in my opinion is the best job in the world. And he should, and has earnt the right to, do it as long as he wants.
“As long as he’s enjoying that process and that challenge, why wouldn’t he? So my message would be keep going as long as you want, as long as you’re enjoying it.”
Murray had arthroscopic hip surgery at the start of 2018 but was forced to go under the knife for a second time a year later for a hip resurfacing procedure. He missed eight Grand Slams between the end of 2017 and the start of 2020 and dropped to No 839 in the world rankings.
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But he is now a regular at the Majors once again and has risen to world No 37. And Henman has tipped the veteran to take his game to the next level if he can overcome an abdominal problem that saw him withdraw from this month’s Cincinnati Masters.
“For me when I dive a little bit deeper into his game, I still don’t think he’s playing particularly well,” the 48-year-old added. “And if I had had to predict the way that his recovery and comeback from hip surgery would have been, I would have got it totally wrong. Because I would have said that his tennis will always be there and he will always play great but his movement would have been so restricted that he wouldn’t have been able to compete.
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“He’s got a little bit of an ab issue and could that be connected to his hip? I don’t know – but the way he’s been moving and been able to play without interruption from hip issues has been great. I think at Wimbledon his tennis was really starting to move in the right direction.
“If he starts playing well, there’s no reason why he can’t be knocking on the door of the top 20 and who knows where that could take him.”
The US Open returns exclusively to Sky Sports and NOW with access to all court feeds from August 28.
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