Briton admits he \u2018doesn\u2019t have too long left\u2019 on ATP Tour
\nDUBAI
\nAndy Murray suggested he may retire within the next \u201cfew months\u201d after winning his opening match in Dubai on Monday.
\nThe former world number one battled back from a set down to beat Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-6 (7\/5), 6-3 and reach the second round.
\nThe 36-year-old, who snapped a six-match losing streak in Doha last week before going out against Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, told the BBC last December that 2024 could be his final year on the ATP Tour. \u201cI probably don\u2019t have too long left but I\u2019ll do as best as I can these last few months,\u201d said Murray on Monday.
\n\u201cI still love competing and still love the game. Obviously, it gets harder and harder the older you get to compete with the young guys and keep your body fit and fresh.\u201d
\nMurray appeared to say to his player\u2019s box during his gruelling loss to Mensik last week that \u201cthis game is not for me anymore\u201d, but he played down those comments.
\n\u201cPeople read a lot into what I say on the court sometimes and it\u2019s not always rational,\u201d he added. \u201cBut everyone asks me about it all the time anyway.\u201d
\nMurray clinched his 500th win on hard courts, joining Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal in reaching the milestone.
\n\u201cYeah, it\u2019s not bad (500 hard-court wins). Hard courts have been a great surface for me over the years… I\u2019m very proud of that.\u201d
\nMurray struggled to contain a powerful first-set display from former top-10 player Shapovalov, who is searching for his best form after missing the end of last season through injury.
\nBut the three-time Grand Slam champion edged a second-set tie-break before easing through the decider with a double-break.
\nMurray will face either fellow veteran Gael Monfils or French fifth seed Ugo Humbert in the last 16.
\nThe Briton has not reached the quarter-finals at an ATP event since his final loss by Daniil Medvedev in Qatar over a year ago.
\nMurray dropped 17 spots in the ATP rankings earlier on Monday, falling to 67th place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Briton admits he \u2018doesn\u2019t have too long left\u2019 on ATP Tour DUBAI Andy Murray suggested he may retire within the next \u201cfew months\u201d after winning his opening match in Dubai on Monday. The former world number one battled back from a set down to beat Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-6 (7\/5), 6-3 and reach the second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-390133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n