"He will retire when he stops giving a ..." - Wilander on Andy Murray

Thursday, 09 June 2022 at 17:00

Updated at Saturday, 14 December 2024 at 12:14

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byZachary Wimer

Mats Wilander explained why he believes to know the moment Andy Murray will retire from tennis.

After spending two weeks in Paris busy with Roland Garros, Wilander elected to spend some more time discussing the world of tennis. The former ATP World No. 1 spoke about fellow former top-ranked player Andy Murray and about the moment the British player might choose to retire.

Wilander sat down with Tennishead, explaining that once Murray feels like he doesn't care about tennis, he will choose to retire from the sport.

"Andy Murray is going to retire the day he walks on the court and plays for 10 minutes and realises ‘I actually don’t give a s**t how this match ends, or how it looks.’ And he’s not going to retire that day because he’s going to finish the match."

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Of course, Murray likely won't retire out of blue, and will likely give the decision a second thought, but sooner or later, the retirement is inevitable.

"But he’s going to retire very shortly after the first time that he feels that he’s careless about trying to give himself the best chance to play his best tennis and make his opponent the worst possible. That’s the day he’s going to go ‘ok that’s it, I’m done.’"

As a former athlete and tennis player himself, Wilander knows very well how it feels when the decision to retire comes, as he explained it further.

"Because there is a switch there that is not reachable. There is no switch that you can control. If somebody else switches that switch, suddenly there is a lack of interest, and there is a place in your brain and your heart that you can’t find. You can’t find your way to that part of your brain that is involved in trying to give yourself the best problem-solving."