Andy Murray has declared that the upcoming Paris Olympics will mark the end of his illustrious tennis career, stating that he feels it is the "right time" to retire.
The two-time Olympic singles champion expressed his satisfaction with this decision during a press conference on Tuesday.
Murray, who will team up with fellow British player, Dan Evans, in the doubles event, noted that recent injuries - particularly those that sidelined him from competing in singles during his final Wimbledon farewell earlier this month - have influenced his choice to step away from the sport.
Reflecting on his journey, the 37-year-old Scot admitted that his feelings about retirement have evolved.
"I didn't feel that way a few months ago when I thought that this is when I was going to stop," the Dunblane-born superstar said.
"I didn't want to. Now I want to. I know it is the right time for me."
Read more:
-
Fitting Olympic end for Andy Murray where he broke big three
-
Emma Raducanu knows mixed doubles withdrawal left Andy Murray disappointed
Murray has acknowledged that he has not yet fully healed from the surgery he underwent to remove a spinal cyst just a week before Wimbledon.
That means instead of competing in singles, Murray plans to concentrate on having a successful doubles run with Evans as he aims for his fourth Olympic medal.
When asked if he felt fit enough to play singles, Murray responded: “I need to make that decision this evening but I don’t think so.
“Obviously me and Dan have made the commitment to each other that (doubles) was what we were going to prioritise.
“I think Dan is still going to play singles but last week he did a lot of doubles practice, that’s what I was predominantly practising in training when I was in Greece and since we’ve been here, we’ve been practising and playing doubles sets together.
“That gives the team and us the best opportunity to get a medal, realistically.
“My back is still not perfect and the potential of playing two matches in a day is maybe not the best.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here