Andy Murray turned back the clock to comfortably overcome David Goffin at the Indian Wells Open after a great performance.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has endured a difficult start to 2024. It has led to reporters repeatedly asking about whether he may retire, which has irritated the tennis legend.
Yet, Murray did eventually give some bombshell retirement news. The 36-year-old announced that he was not expecting to play past the summer, which would indicate that he could stop playing after Wimbledon or the Olympics.
This did not stop Murray from being defended from these reporters. His mother Judy was furious about a retirement question aimed at her son. She has always been protective of Murray, meaning it is not a big surprise.
Murray's match against Goffin was a repeat of the final rubber of the 2014 Davis Cup final between Great Britain and Belgium, which saw Murray win to claim glory for his country. And the Briton invoked memories of his best tennis with this latest performance against Goffin.
Unsurprisingly, there were many long rallies between these two fighters in the slow Indian Wells conditions. But both players also produced some strong serving at the start of the match, leading to no breaks of serve in the opening seven games.
Murray then made his move in the eighth game. The two-time Wimbledon champion did not do anything spectacular to break. He put enough pressure on Goffin, who missed shots such as a routine volley at the net.
The Scot managed to break, and he held serve without any problems in the following game to take the set 6-3. It was a trademark set from Murray, who managed to grind his opponent down with his consistent tennis.
Murray got even better in the following set. He began to play more aggressively and was striking the ball very cleanly. Goffin could not live with that increased tempo, and Murray broke again in the opening game of the second set.
To Goffin's credit, he never stopped fighting. The Belgian saved a break point in a very long fifth game, which included a delightful drop shot that wrongfooted Murray.
But Murray just kept hammering away at his opponent, and more excellent hitting from the baseline saw him break again. Murray served it out to seal a 6-3 6-2 victory, and send a statement that he is not finished just yet.
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