The 90s kids had a hard time digesting the news of the retirements of two lauded players. Worse, the blow came from both of them in the same month. Roger Federer and Serena Williams bid goodbye to professional tennis in September 2022. Rafael Nadal also announced that he will retire in 2024. But Novak Djokovic is still out there, as fit as ever, carrying the legacy and remains of our childhood. Recently Andy Murray and Venus Williams are also raising hopes by improving their form. Venus is enjoying her time on the court, dismissing her retirement rumors.
Murray has done exceptionally well by winning the Surbiton trophy earlier this month?his first grass title since 2016. But even he is not an exception to the retirement pressure. Shutting all those people down, Laura Robson gave it back to the world on behalf of Murray.
Isn’t love for the game a valid reason to play?
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The two times title claimer of the Wimbledon Championships made it clear that this Grass Slam may not be his last. But this clarification did not satisfy the curiosity-driven people. So Robson spoke to Eurosport, in which she said, ?He loves playing, and that’s enough for some people to keep going. And he’s won everything there is to win, almost. And he really is playing just because he wants to be out there.”
Talking about the external pressure of retirement, Robson recalled the instances where Serena and Venus were bombarded with retirement questions. The 29-year-old stated, ?I hate this feeling of trying to retire people before they’re ready. We’ve seen it so often with Serena and Venus and other champions just let them play for as long as they want to.”
The former British WTA number one further added that Murray has no reason to retire, as he is in his best form. She said, “He’s clearly doing well enough to just be outside of the top 32 seeds without a huge amount of tennis under his belt when you look at how almost little he played over the last year. So really the last few months is the only time that he’s been healthy enough to get some consistent tennis in. I feel like he’s right up there still, so there?s no reason to stop anytime soon.”
The Olympic silver medalist believes that Murray may overpower younger players if he stays fit. She also described what she loves more about the Scot’s game.
Seeded or unseeded, Andy Murray has his own ways of getting past the game
Robson opines that since Murray has got his grip on the grass, he may win a couple of early matches in the draw, as Grass is one of his comfort zones. She talked about his recent loss to Alex de Minaur and playing against the top young seeds. The former player said, “…that’s when you want to play the top seeds because it’s when they’re sort of at their most vulnerable in a way when they haven’t played a lot of matches on the surface and they’re coming into a new Grand Slam. And Andy’s played a lot of tennis over the last few weeks.”
Though Murray might enter Wimbledon as an unseeded player, it is the least of the concerns. According to the Wimbledon Juniors champion, the US Open should also be considered here, as Murray may enter the tournament as a Top 32 player. In his recent matches, Murray wasn’t afraid to come close to the nets and moved with ease.
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Robson revealed that she would love to watch more of the net game from Murray while he comes out of his comfort zone. She also loves it when the former world number one throws in a volley, as it ambushes the opponents and weakens their defense. The finalist of mixed doubles in the 2012 Olympics with Andy Murray, suggested that more of these volleys and net games would keep opponents at bay.
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Murray 2.0 has been amazing till now. He has given one of the stellar comebacks with his unimaginable winning streak and health. Will he continue to be terrific and create another Wimbledon glory for himself? Let us know your views in the comments.