Andy Murray vows to end awful form - but admits ‘most people would quit’ sport in his position

The 36-year-old denied he was ‘tarnishing’ his legacy as he winless start to 2024 continued

Andy Murray has vowed to “keep fighting” and not walk away from tennis despite going through one of the worst periods of results in his career.

The three-time grand slam champion is yet to win a match in 2024 and his disappointing first-round exit at the Australian Open was followed by a defeat to Benoit Paire in the opening round of the Open Sud de France on Monday.

The 36-year-old was despondent after his straight-sets defeat to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Melbourne earlier this month and made the frank admission that it was “definitely a possibility” that he had played his last Australian Open.

Defeat to Paire means Murray has only won once in his last nine matches, but the two-time Wimbledon champion took issue with an article that questioned whether he should retire before he risks damaging what he has achieved in the sport.

Responding to the article on Twitter/X, Murray said: “Tarnishing my legacy? Do me a favour. I’m in a terrible moment right now I’ll give you that. Most people would quit and give up in my situation right now.

“But I’m not most people and my mind works differently. I won’t quit. I will keep fighting and working to produce the performances I know I’m capable of.”

Murray, who also exited the Brisbane International in his opening match, let slip a one-set lead against the world 112 Paire to lose 6-2 6-7 (5) 3-6 in just short of two and three-quarter hours.

Murray has said this year could be his last on tour if he is “not enjoying it”. At the Australian Open, he said he has an “idea” over when he would like to finish playing and admitted that performances like the one against Etcheverry “narrows the timeframe” on how long he has left.

“I have an idea of what I would probably like to finish playing. So much of that depends on how you’re playing,” Murray said. “The time frame for that narrows when you play and have results like today.”