Andy Murray hinted that his sad Australian Open first-round elimination on Monday would be his last visit to Melbourne Park.
Murray, a five-time finalist in Australia, was left feeling defeated by No. 30 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
The 36-year-old Scot stated that it would be harder for him to stretch off whatever retirement date he has in mind if he continued to perform as he did today due to his metal hip.
Murray, who is No. 44 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, said that he has spoken to his family and team about the timing of his retirement.
“I’ve spoken to them about it, my family and 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.”
“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.”
Murray has won tour-level 46 titles, including three majors, two Olympic singles gold medals and the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals.
Medvedev to the second round
Elsewhere, World No.3 Daniil Medvedev moved into the second round over Grand Slam debutant and French qualifier Terence Atmane to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 victory.
The Russian and two-time finalist’s journey in Australia continues when he next face Estonian Emil Ruusuvuori.
Meanwhile leading home hope Alex de Minaur advanced to the Australian Open second round on Monday after Milos Raonic’s promising performance was cut short by injury inside Rod Laver Arena.
The Australian, who cracked the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last week after his performances for Australia at the United Cup, then rallied to lead 6-7(6), 6-3, 2-0 before Raonic was forced to retire from the first-round matchup will now meet Italian Matteo Arnaldi for a place in the third round.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was slow out of the blocks on Monday at the Australian Open, but he quickly adjusted to accelerate to victory against Belgian lucky loser Zizou Bergs.
The Greek earned a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win to reach the second round in Melbourne for the sixth straight year and will battle with jordan Thompson or Alexsandar Vukic.
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