"I kinda have a feeling that 2024 is gonna be Andy Murray's last" - Tennis analyst
Tennis analyst Gill Gross recently stated that he believes former World No. 1 Andy Murray will retire from the tour in 2024.
Murray advanced to the third round of the Australian Open and then to the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he upset Alexander Zverev. Since then, his performance has deteriorated.
Andy Murray even withdrew from the 2023 French Open a week before the start of the Grand Slam event. He wanted to make one more deep run at the All England Club. Unfortunately, his run at SW19 was ended by Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set second-round thriller.
On the 'Monday Match Analysis' podcast, senior tennis analyst Gill Gross stated that he believes Murray's final year on the tour will be 2024 unless the star believes he has a chance to make a deep run at a Grand Slam tournament.
"I kinda have a feeling that 2024, if nothing changes, is gonna be his last," he said. "I think that you know as long he feels like he could have a chance still to kinda break new ground, make a deep run at a Major which should ultimately be his goal. As long as he feels like he has a chance to do that, I think he keeps on going."
Gross added that Andy Murray was attempting to work on his body, focusing on his fitness level to see how far he could go. However, things did not go as planned for the three-time Grand Slam winner.
"I thought for a little bit of time, I think he was babying his body a little bit and this year," Gross said.
"And he decided to up his work level to do more fitness in trying to get into a better shape and hopefully see how far that could take him. And honestly, it just hasn't taken him as far as I think he wanted," he added.
"I have a feeling Andy Murray is good enough to have a moment" - Gill Gross
Gill Gross further highlighted Andy Murray's 2023 Wimbledon Championships match against Stefanos Tsitsipas. He said that the Greek played really well and that the Brit wasn't well-equipped to attack his opponent's weaknesses.
"Now you can say 'Look, he played really well against Tsitsipas, it's a tough draw because he wasn't seeded and he almost took him out'," Gross continued. "Tsitsipas played really really well in that match, the whole time. Andy wasn't all that well equipped to attack his weaknesses in terms of the return, but nonetheless, Tsitsipas was really good in the match and played really well."
Gross went on to say that if Andy Murray doesn't do something big soon, he may retire in 2024. He does, however, believe Murray will continue to fight hard and make deep runs at big tournaments.
"But, I think, you know, at the end of the day, these kinda moral victories get pretty old, pretty tired and if Andy doesn't, this is just me speculating, but I think if Andy doesn't do anything big really soon, I do think he is going to stop in 2024," Gross said.
"But I also think that he is going to continue to fight really hard. I have a feeling, his current level, he is good enough to have a moment here. I don't think as consistently as he would like, but I do think he is going to have a moment at some point. When I say a moment, I just mean he is going to make a big round at a big tournament, that's all," he added.