Murray reveals retirement plans after Australian Open first-round defeat
Andy Murray admits he may bring forward plans to retire from tennis after suffering a confidence-sapping straight-sets defeat in the first round of the Australian Open.
The three-time Grand Slam winner mustered little resistance in a 6-4 6-2 6-2 loss to 30th seed Tomas Etcheverry – only his second failure to overcome the first hurdle in 16 appearances at Melbourne Park.
It was in stark contrast to two rousing wins at the Australian Open last year, and Murray, 36, conceded that he might have played his last match at the Australian Open.
“It’s a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here. I think probably because of how the match went and everything,” the Briton said.
“I know that Tomas is a really, really good player. I’m aware of that. Even if I play well, I can still lose the match. It’s just the nature of the performance that makes you question things.
“I haven’t gained in belief from today’s match that at some stage I’m going to start playing really well again or winning tournaments or getting to the latter stages of major events.
“Last year was a slightly different story. Physically I held up well against two really good players. It’s a very different situation sitting here. So the timeframe narrows a little bit for me to get to a level that I want to be at.”
Murray said he had not yet decided when he would retire but had discussed it with his inner circle and did have an occasion in mind.
“I’ve spoken to my family about it. I’ve spoken to my team about it. They’re very aware of how I feel about things, where I would like to finish playing, when that would be,” he added.
“I haven’t made any definite decisions on that. It’s obviously something that I need to think about and see exactly when that is.”
The former world No1 has now lost seven of his last eight matches. It is the worst run of his career and has chipped away at his hope of continuing to compete at the biggest events.
“I know in the last week, 10 days, how well I was playing against the best players in the world. That’s why it’s so frustrating that on the match court it’s not there,” Murray said.
“I’ve been telling myself that at some stage it will. But when you have performances like today, or a batch of results over a period of time like I have done, it’s tough to keep believing in that.”
Elsewhere on day two at the Australian Open, Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska stunned Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-2.
US Open winner Coco Gauff and three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur cruised into round two with straight-sets wins.