The three-time grand slam winner confirmed his intention to retire from the sport after Wimbledon following his battles with a chronic hip condition
Andy Murray ended an emotional day with a hug from mother Judy as he thanked well-wishers for their messages of support following his announcement of his plans to retire.
The tennis world has been paying tribute to three-time grand slam winner Murray after he revealed he will hang up his racket after this year’s Wimbledon.
The 31-year-old Scot also admitted his chronic hip condition means he might not even make it to the scene of his greatest triumphs, and that next week’s Australian Open could be the final tournament of his career.
Top-ranked British players Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta led the tributes along with Murray’s rivals, and friends, such as Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Nick Kyrgios.
Sharing a photo of himself with Judy Murray, the former world number one wrote on Instagram: “Best way to feel better after a tough day is a big cuddle from your mum.
At the press conference ahead of the Grand Slam, he started crying after telling everyone he wasn’t feeling great. He had to leave the room for several minutes so that he could calm down.
He said: “Obviously I have been struggling a long time and I have been in pain for about twenty months now.
“I’ve pretty much-done everything that I could to try and get my hip feeling better and it hasn’t helped loads. I’m in a better place than I was six months ago but still in a lot of pain. It’s been tough.
“I’m going to play here. I can still play to a certain level, not a level I’m happy playing at. It’s not just that. The pain is too much really, I don’t want to continue playing that way.
“I’ve tried pretty much everything I could do but it hasn’t worked. In the middle of December, I spoke to my team and told them I can’t keep doing this. I thought I needed to have an endpoint because I was playing with no idea of when the pain was going to stop.
