"I don't have to do what fans or journalists or anyone is telling me to do"- Andy Murray says he wants to 'keep playing' despite calls for retirement
Andy Murray has come out and said that he will 'keep playing' for as long as he wants and will not be deterred by what anyone has to say about his career.
Murray hasn't been in good form in recent months, which has led to calls from some journalists and tennis fans for him to consider retirement. For context, the Brit is on a six-match losing streak and hasn't gone past the first round in all four competitions he has participated in this season.
Murray's most recent loss came at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, where he lost to current World No. 62 Tomas Machac in straight sets. At the end of last month, he even hit back at a journalist who questioned whether the 36-year-old should hang up his racket after a string of poor results.
Speaking to Sky Sports in a recent interview, Murray acknowledged that he is no longer one of the most popular names among the younger tennis fans. But he reiterated that he had no plans of retiring anytime soon.
"When I was sort of in my early 20s, I had, mainly sort of like younger fans come up to you and ask for autographs. Now I get sort of older people, whose bodies are falling apart and they're like 'oh you know it's great that you keep going, you know it has inspired me to get out and keep training', the demographic has changed a little bit", Andy Murray said.
"But yeah, it's obviously nice, I can do whatever I want. I don't have to do what fans or journalists or anyone is telling me to do. I'm qualifying for all these tournaments on my right, on my ranking, from the matches that I've won. Yeah, I wanna keep playing just now, so I'm not gonna stop", the Brit added.
Knighted in 2019, Murray is widely regarded as one of the best tennis players to come out of Great Britain. He also won two Olympic gold medals — one in 2012, and the other in 2016.
Andy Murray not above playing in Challengers amid poor form
Andy Murray recently talked about the possibility of playing on the ATP Challenger Tour — a step below the ATP Tour.
The Brit, who turns 37 this May, won three singles Grand Slams, the last of which came in 2016 at Wimbledon. But notably, he hasn't gone past the third round in any of the four Majors since the start of 2018.
Murray has played in three tournaments this season apart from the Australian Open, all of which have been ATP 250 events. He hasn't gone past the first round in any of them.
Speaking after his 5-7, 4-6 loss against Tomas Machac in Montpellier on February 6, Murray told a press conference (via Eurosport):
"Maybe I will have to play in Challengers. The easiest thing for me would have been to leave my career. But I continue because I love the game, I love to train. At the moment, without a doubt, it is not easy to compete. But what is happening now does not affect my career."
Murray, a former men's World No. 1 in singles, is currently ranked 50th on the Tour.