British tennis champion Andy Murray has been knocked out of the Australian open after a five set battle with Roberto Bautista Agut.
ADVERTISEMENTAndy Murray has been knocked out of the Australian open.
He lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in a five set thriller - going down 2-6 in the final set. This may prove to be his last professional showing, according to a presser last week.
Murray broke down in tears last Friday as he conceded that a long-term injury may force him to retire imminently.
Britain’s most successful tennis male player since the Second World War told a news conference in Melbourne that next week’s Australian Open may be his last tournament.
The three-times Grand Slam winner and double Olympic champion said he had initially planned to stop playing after this year’s Wimbledon championships. But now he wasn’t sure he could play through the pain for several more months.
Murray had surgery a year ago on his right hip, which had troubled him for years. A comeback last June did not last and despite a huge effort to get fit, he was forced to cut his season short.
The layoff saw his ranking plunge and the 31-year-old is due to play next Monday’s first round match as the world number 230 against the No22 seed, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Andy Murray is one of Britain’s greatest ever sportsmen. He has competed at the top in a golden era for world tennis alongside the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
In 2013 a national millstone was cast off when the Scot became the first Briton to become Wimbledon men’s singles champion since Fred Perry 77 years previously. A further Wimbledon triumph followed in 2016, to complete his trio of Grand Slams which began at the 2012 US Open.