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Judy Murray: ‘You just get the sense that he’s not quite ready to quit yet’

Andy Murray's mother opens up on the former world No 1's long-lasting pain, that opening round defeat in Melbourne and his options after retirement

Paul Newman
Melbourne
Wednesday 16 January 2019 08:11 GMT
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Andy Murray after Australian Open loss: 'maybe I'll see you again'

Perhaps it was the natural optimism of a mother so clearly proud of her son’s remarkable achievements, but Judy Murray suggested here on Tuesday that Andy Murray’s career might not yet be over.

“You just get the sense that there’s something else in him, that he’s not quite ready to quit yet,” Judy said as she reflected on his remarkable performance on Monday night, when he pushed Roberto Bautista Agut to the limit at the Australian Open despite the pain from his injured right hip.

Murray expects to decide in the next week whether to have a “resurfacing” operation on his hip, which should alleviate his physical pain but is likely to leave him unable to train hard or to play at the elite level again. If he is to play this summer at Wimbledon, which he had wanted to be his farewell tournament, he could instead take a break from tennis before resuming training in the summer, but he would still be suffering the day-to-day pain that has troubled him for more than a year and a half.

Judy did not know what his decision would be but insisted: “Whatever he decides, he is quite likely to be the one who breaks the mould of getting the absolute max out of whatever, because the mind is a powerful thing. Last night was mind over body, for sure.

“He’s been in pain for a long time now and anybody who has lived with long-term pain knows it’s not easy. It affects how you sleep, it affects everything he does, from sticking his shoes on to sleeping, so it’s been tough for him.

“He’s got a huge pain threshold, that’s for certain. We’ve all seen that over the years. I hope that he can find the solution that’s right for him. I think we could see from last night how much he’s still got to give and how much he loves it and has always loved what he does.”

She added: “He can take his time. There’s no rush to make any decisions. It all needs to be looked at and researched and weighed up. But whatever he decides, I’ll be right behind him because quality of life, of course, is massive and he’s got two little kids. He must enjoy life in the long term.”

It was on her visit to his training camp in Miami last month that Murray told his mother that the physical pain he was suffering had become too much and that he had decided he needed to reach an “end point”.

She recalled: “After one of the practice sessions he said: ‘I just can’t do it any more.’ It was just heart-breaking because it’s been his life and he loves it so much. He has always loved the life, loved the game.”

Murray admitted on Monday that there had been times in the past when he might have over-trained in his desire to make himself an even better player, leading to some of the physical issues he has had to deal with in the last two years. His mother agreed.

“What always concerned me was the limited amount of rest and recovery there was from competition in particular, but also what he put himself through in the off-season in order to get better,” she said.

“I think Roger Federer summed it up beautifully the other day when he said that you have to trust in your talent and that it’s not about volume, it’s about working smart. That’s always been my theory. I just think he summed it up really well.

“You see it a lot in all levels of tennis where there are a lot of people arguing for volume, whereas I would always argue for quality and working smart. But hindsight’s a great thing, isn’t it?

“The good thing with Andy is that he’s so willing to share his experiences and his advice with others, and particularly the younger generation that are coming through. Hopefully he can help them and their coaches and parents not to make the same mistakes, to get more things right.

“It hammers home, I think, the importance of having the right environment and the right people around you at the right time and the importance of investing in quality expertise.

“That would certainly be my message for British tennis: to invest in people at all stages and areas of the game so that we have tennis-specific experts at every level, because our sport has completely different demands to rugby or cricket or whatever.

Judy Murray herself is unsure what decision her son will make regarding his hip injury 

“If you have people around you who understand what the game will demand of the player, it helps you understand what the game will demand of the coaches, of the parents and then you have much more chance of getting it right.”

Judy said it had been hard to watch her son play what may well prove to be his last match knowing all the physical pain he had been through since he injured his hip in the summer of 2017.

“It’s been incredibly difficult as a parent to see him struggling through that,” she said. “He takes on everything – as you know – with 100 per cent discipline and professionalism. He’s done everything that he possibly could and put himself through all sorts of tortures to try and get himself back.

“You’re aware you’re watching last night what might be his last match – maybe not – and you’re hoping that he can go out on something where he does himself proud. And he absolutely did. He gave the most remarkable performance given that he had played only two matches since the US Open, which was at the end of August, and that most of his rehab has been physical rehab.

“He didn’t start hitting again until the end of November, so he’s not even actually hit that many balls and he’s certainly not played many matches, so you’re not sure what to expect.

Murray admitted on Monday that there had been times in the past when he might have over-trained in his desire to make himself an even better player

“After two sets he was starting to get into the match again. He was starting to almost get the match fitness back. When you’ve not been playing matches, you’re mentally rusty - and obviously he was physically rusty because of his injury.

“I think from the second game, when he turned round and went ‘Let’s go!’ I thought: ‘You’re going to be OK here because you’re going to compete and you’re going to get stuck in’ - which he always does. That should never be in question.

“With everything he’s gone through, I didn’t know what to expect. I’m just so proud of what he did out there given the discomfort that he’s in. I was just blown away by what he did and yet I shouldn’t have been blown away because that’s just who he is: he’s a born competitor, he’s an incredible athlete and he loves what he does - and he showed all of that last night. What’s not to love about that?

“But you’re sort of left thinking: ‘God, if you can do that when you’re running on fumes…’ So who knows what’s next?

“It was an amazing night. The atmosphere was incredible, the crowd was incredible. You couldn’t have asked for anything more. He got such an incredible reception. I hope that perhaps he finally realises how loved and respected and appreciated he is. To get that kind of reception on the other side of the world, that’s just uncanny. It was an amazing night.”

Murray showed great resilience and fight in his opening-round defeat in Melbourne

Judy said that after two sets he was playing with the clever mix of shots that has always been his trademark. “He started using all his court craft and all his guile and all the things he enjoys about playing: the drop shots and the lobs, making life difficult and almost like toying with someone. I’m not saying he was toying with Roberto because Roberto is an unbelievable player, but that’s what Andy always enjoyed about tennis from a very young age.”

As for her son’s future career options, Judy said he would have plenty of choice given his many interests. “He’s a really smart guy,” she said. “He’s interested in a lot of things. I think he’d be a great coaching mentor. I think Jamie would be as well. They both read the game very well, they understand it very well, they communicate very well – and they’ve got masses of experience.”

Judy said that one of the things of which she had been particularly proud in recent days was the fact that so many of the tributes that have been made to her son since he revealed his decision to retire had been as much about his character as his tennis ability.

“For any parent that’s an amazing thing, because his tennis achievements obviously speak for themselves,” she said. “I think he will have been genuinely blown away by the volume and the breadth of the tributes and where they came in from, and recognising who he is, not just what he achieved.”

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