Andy Murray played 'possibly his final match' ever at the Australian Open, in his own words, after losing in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open.
The Brit had a poor finish last year with some very questionable performances, which got many thinking that the end was near. He wouldn't confirm so, but it was pretty evident that he failed to produce the type of tennis he wanted to play.
The stance was always that he'd quit if it ever got to that point, and his first-round performance against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the 2024 Australian Open certainly didn't change anybody's stance.
Murray tried his best but was easily beaten by a player he technically should be able to beat, especially on hard courts. The same thing happened before the event, so things are not trending well.
After the match, a visibly disappointed Murray confirmed that this might have been his final match in Melbourne, even though he didn't know. That's the most true out of all of it. He simply doesn't know, but with how things are trending, it doesn't look promising that he'll be back.
"It's a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here. I think probably because of how the match went and everything, I don't know. Whilst you're playing the match, you're obviously trying to control your emotions, focus on the points and everything."
Murray was pretty upbeat about his chances to win the match, but as the match went on, the feeling faded. When he found himself one point away from losing, he thought about how quickly it all went. It was just a disappointing feeling.
"When you're one point away from the end, you're like, I can't believe this is over so quickly, and like this. In comparison to the matches that I played here last year, it's the complete opposite feeling walking off the court. Yeah, wish I involved the crowd more. Just disappointed with the way I played and all of that stuff, so..."
So we'll see what happens with Murray. Nobody knows, including him, so it's a wait-and-see approach.