Andy Murray has confirmed his eagerness to play more events is still burning brightly after it was confirmed he will play at the Dubai Tennis Championships later this month.
Speculation has been swirling around Murray’s future in the sport after he lost his first three matches of 2024.
His ambitions took another hit as he lost against Benoit Paire in Montpellier earlier this week, handing the maverick Frenchman his first ATP Tour level win since August 2022.
It inspired the BBC website to run a story suggesting the three-time Grand Slam champion was in danger of tarnishing his legacy by continuing to play when he doesn’t appear to be making progress in his efforts to get back to the top.
Murray was quick to hit back at that website story and insisted he has no immediate plans to call time on his career and vowed: “I won’t quit.”
The two-time Wimbledon winner, 36, was dumped out of the first round in both the Brisbane International and Australian Open and remains winless in 2024 following his third defeat of the new year.
Murray let slip a one-set lead against Paire to lose 6-2 6-7 3-6 in his opening match of the Open Sud de France and has not won a competitive match since his victory over Yannick Hanfmann in Basel in October 2023.
After the match, some questioned whether it was time for Murray to bring his playing career to a close, but the Scot has pledged to keep on fighting.
Murray responded to a post on X by saying: “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.”
Now it has been confirmed that Murray will continue his battle to find form by playing in a star-studded field in Dubai.
Reigning champion Daniil Medvedev and 2022 winner Andrey Rublev will both be competing at the emirate’s annual ATP 500 event from February 26 to March 2.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, who won the tournament in 2017, will make his eighth appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
“We are thrilled to have three former champions in Andy, Andrey, and Daniil participating, further underlining the regard in which this tournament is held,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free.
Salah Tahlak, Joint COO of Dubai Duty Free and Tournament Director of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Andy, Andrey, and Daniil back to Dubai this year. They are all extremely popular figures among the tennis fraternity, so having these type of players competing in the tournament is great news for us.”
Meanwhile, a star-studded WTA line up will see 17 of the world’s top 20 players descend upon Dubai for the 24th edition of the WTA Tour tournament—recently awarded permanent WTA 1000 status.
Nine of the world’s top 10 female players will be in the emirate for the latest instalment of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
World No 1 Iga Swiatek, world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, fresh from securing her second successive Australian Open crown, and world No. 3 Coco Gauff lead the impressive pack.
Leave a Reply