Andy Murray on surprise enjoyment of retirement after quitting tennis - ‘It has been the complete opposite'
Published 09/09/2024 at 15:14 GMT+1
Some had wondered whether or not Andy Murray would miss tennis when he finally retired. Murray was a tennis obsessive but the game pushed his body to breaking point. Speaking as a retired tennis player, Murray admitted he has been surprised by just how much he has been enjoying his retirement, especially the amount of free time he now has at his disposal.
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Andy Murray has admitted that he has been surprised by how much he has been enjoying retirement since he stepped away from tennis.
After a glittering career, Murray retired from the sport after the 2024 Paris Olympic Games following a career that saw him win Wimbledon twice, the US Open and two Olympic golds.
Murray pushed his body hard to keep playing after a series of serious injuries but has revealed that he is not missing tennis as much as he thought he would.
"Since I've stopped, I feel really free and have got lots of time to do whatever it is I want," Murray said to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Murrray continued: "I can dedicate time to my children and have free time to play golf or go to the gym on my own terms.
"It is really nice and I didn't expect that. I was expecting to find retirement hard and be missing tennis a lot and wanting to get back on the tennis court on tour.
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"So far it has been the complete opposite to what I was thinking."
Murray did go on to admit that, during the latter stages of his career, he had begun to find it extremely difficult to spend an extended period of time away from his family.
"The thing that I always found difficult in recent years was that there was always a guilt associated with what I was doing," the Briton said.
"If I was going away for a trip of like three to four weeks I would feel guilty leaving my children at home or being away from my wife for a long time with them, so missing the kids I found hard.
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"But if I was at home with the kids then I was running around and spending a lot of my time on my feet after training.
"I was then thinking 'is this going to affect my training or performance the next day, should I have my feet up?' I found that stuff difficult over the last few years."
The Scot also said that he felt at times the criticism he received from the media and fans was over the top in the UK.
"It was really hard for me at times, reaching the final at Wimbledon and being criticised for your work or feeling you are not good enough," he said.
"Which I think is wrong, and I don't know if that would be the case in every country.
"It might have not been the case, but my perception was I was feeling I was being attacked even when I was doing really well, and that was pretty hard."
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