Tennis!

[gunnar hendershow]

It's long, long overdue for a final set tiebreak.

[Adam]

I'm glad they're not doing it until 12-12. A good compromise for me, I was a fan of it being possible to just play forever to be honest. I'll never forget Isner/Mahut.

[Adam]

Looks like the end of the road for one of the all-time British sporting greats...

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083519540133150721

An emotional Andy Murray says he will play #AusOpen and hopes to play the final tournament of his career at @Wimbledon.

"Not feeling good. Been struggling for a long time...I'm not sure I can play through the pain for another four or five months." pic.twitter.com/g4sLpuiyF4

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 11, 2019

 

 

I have completely lost it reading what he had to say at the press conference. Floods of tears because a man can't play tennis anymore. Here's the write-up from the Guardian: Murray announces impending retirement; Could be done after Monday's match

[gunnar hendershow]

Shame Murray has to retire like this. I am glad for his sake he's taking into account a long-term quality of life as opposed to doing whatever he can to get just a few more years of tennis out of that hip.

[Lineker]

I hope he can get to Wimbledon and go out on his own terms. He deserves it.

[Baddar]

It's a shame, but if it's come to the point where he can't compete at the top without getting hurt, it's for the best. 

Really disliked Murray when he first come on the scene as an immature teenager, making excuses for every defeat. He soon learned to take losses on the chin though and become one of the best players to ever play the game.

[Bobfoc]

This will be a big loss to the sport. Murray is a great competitor and sportsman who worked incredibly hard to earn the success he did. He's played in an era that lots of people consider to be the most difficult ever, with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic being three of the all-time greats, and yet has won three Grand Slam titles, a lot of other major tournaments and the Davis Cup too, as well as being top of the world rankings for a while. That's seriously impressive, and I imagine that he'd have won several more if he'd been around in the early 2000s, after Sampras' powers were waning and before Federer really hit his stride.

It'll be a shame that he won't ever win the Australian Open because he's been a five-time runner-up. I still think he could have done it because, before this hip injury really kicked in, he was playing better than anyone.

I have plenty of good memories of watching Murray play, but none more so than when he won Wimbledon for the first time. What a huge moment not only for his country, but for himself.

[Lineker]

39 minutes ago, Baddar said:

It's a shame, but if it's come to the point where he can't compete at the top without getting hurt, it's for the best. 

Really disliked Murray when he first come on the scene as an immature teenager, making excuses for every defeat. He soon learned to take losses on the chin though and become one of the best players to ever play the game.

Let's not also forget all that he's done in championing total equality for women in the game.

[DavidMarrio]

One of the best players in an extremely tough era of tennis in terms of the sheer quality of other players around him. 

It's a big loss for the tennis world, he's probably helped inspire a younger generation in taking up tennis, his efforts in trying to make the game equal for men and women, his charity work. 

Not just a tennis great but a sporting great for Britain. Although the decision is sad, his health and living as much as a pain free life as he can should be his top priority. 

[Colly]

RIP Tim. Cant believe it. I wanna run to u. Really cant believe this. @

[Bobfoc]

The Australian Open next week should be interesting. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing how Cameron Norrie gets on, having reached a final earlier today. If he reaches the third round, he'll probably face Roger Federer.

[FLiam]

I think Murray should call it quits before Wimbledon. 

Don’t fuck your body up even more to make one final appearance, you’ve won the thing, you ended Britain’s wait for a men’s singles title, you’ve worked yourself literally into an early retirement to be world number one in arguably one of the most competitive eras of tennis.

For me he’s definitely up there as one of the greatest British sportsmen of all time and I was one that used to despise him when he first hit the scene. Anyone who can compete and hang with the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic deserves all the plaudits they get as they’re amongst the best players to ever play the game.

[Baddar]

Murray is fighting, but he's a set down against Bautista Agut.

[Arjen Robben]

Shame to see him struggling so much, but if he's in pain all the time he's playing then and with his hip and back and other injuries he's had, calling it a day probably is for the best, sad as it is.

Looking like he'll lose here, I can see the situation being that he won't play between now and Wimbledon and he'll get a wildcard entry in to that as his last hurrah.

[Lineker]

This is hard to watch

[Baddar]

He's managed to force a 4th set!

Every match he plays from now on is going to be tough for him, whether he's playing against one of the top players in the world or not. The longer the rallies go, the more he's stretched, it's going to favour his opponent. He still has his great serve, and in terms of total points won, he's not a million miles behind Agut here. A massive ask for him to even take this to set 5 though.

[Arjen Robben]

Fair play to him for taking that set, proper fighter.

[Baddar]

It's going to the 5th set!

[Arjen Robben]

Commentator just raised a good point, if he still loses this where does it leave him after this? Cause he’s shown a lot of fight and class to get back in to this, would probably be more sure of his next move if he just got batteries in straight sets than being two down and pulling it back to a fifth.

[MDK]

Just now, Arjen Robben said:

Commentator just raised a good point, if he still loses this where does it leave him after this?

He reverts back to being Scottish and not British.