Pained Murray says Australian Open could be his swansong

Saturday, 12 January 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Andy Murray of England speaks to the media during a press conference at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia - Reuters

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Andy Murray may retire after the Australian Open, with the severe pain from his troublesome right hip having become almost unbearable for him to play on, the former world number one said on Friday.

Overcome with emotion, the three-time Grand Slam champion wept at a media conference as he revealed that he had initially planned to quit after playing this year’s Wimbledon tournament but now felt Melbourne Park might end up his swansong.

“There’s a chance of that, for sure, because I’m not sure I’m able to play through the pain for another four or five months,” the 31-year-old Briton, now ranked 230th in the world, said.

“The pain is too much, really, and I don’t want to continue playing that way.

“The pain is not allowing me to enjoy competing or training or any of the stuff I love about tennis.” Five-times a runner up at Melbourne Park, Murray had surgery on the joint a year ago, having played with pain for a number of years.

He came back last June but was forced to cut his 2018 season short.

While still struggling during a pre-season camp in December, Murray said he had told his team that he felt he could not go on for much longer.