Andy Murray made a massive statement as he opened up about the possibility of retiring in 2024, as he will be turning 37 in May 2024, and his constant battle with injuries has started to bother him.
By his own admission, the 36-year-old did not enjoy much of the last season and won just two matches in his final five events of the year. Murray's 20th season on the ATP Tour will begin on New Year's Day with a match against the second seed, Grigor Dimitrov, at the Brisbane International.
"If I was in a situation like I was at the end of last year, then I probably wouldn't go again," Murray told BBC Sport. "But then if physically I'm doing well and my results are good and I'm playing well, then that's enjoyable, and I could see myself still playing. We'll see how the year goes, see how the body holds up. If things are going well, I'd love to keep going. But if they're not, and I'm not enjoying it, it could be the last year, yes."
Murray flew to Australia on Boxing Day after a large family gathering on Christmas Day, which included his brother Jamie and his mother Judy. With four young children, it is no surprise that the first wake-up call came at 3.30 am, but it did not spoil his Christmas lunch, which mixed turkey with the leftover sushi the family had ordered on Christmas Eve.
Since arriving in Brisbane, Murray played practice sets with some of the best players in the world but was not able to play a tie-break with Rafael Nadal as their court time ran out at 6-6 on Saturday afternoon.
The Scot practised with Jack Draper before leaving the UK and said he also made the most of the presence of a number of top players during warm-weather training in Dubai.
But as he tried to rediscover the form that took him close to a Wimbledon seeding in the summer, there were a few too many problems for his liking.
"I had the shoulder injury before Davis Cup [in November], so I wasn't able to serve for a few weeks, and then there's obviously a gradual build-up to being able to serve full out," he explained.
"And also, I got quite sick literally just as I was leaving to go to Dubai, so that made things a bit tricky - and I had a bruised meniscus in my knee, which also restricted me from doing certain things.
"I was able to still practice and do lots of training, but it's just there was certain stuff I wasn't able to do - like playing points and full-out sprinting and changes of direction. So it's not been that straightforward, but the last 10 days or so I've managed to get more of that in. There are signs in practice that my level is good enough."
