Paris 2024 Olympics: Andy Murray unlikely to play singles to 'prioritise' doubles - 'Best opportunity to get a medal'
Published 24/07/2024 at 18:24 GMT+1
Andy Murray is yet to decide on whether he will play singles at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but admits he is likely to only participate in the men's doubles tournament. The Scot will team up with Dan Evans as he targets a fourth medal at the Games. A back injury forced him to withdraw from singles at Wimbledon in July, and he insists doubles will be his priority at Roland Garros.
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Andy Murray admits he may have played the last singles match of his glittering career, after revealing he will "prioritise" the men's doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Scot has already confirmed that he will retire from tennis once the Games have finished.
He will team up with Dan Evans for the men's doubles, where he is targeting a fourth Olympic medal.
As he is still continuing his recovery from a back injury, he insists he will not jeopardise his chances of adding to his achievements from the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.
"Me and Dan have made the commitment to each other," he said. "That was what we were going to prioritise.
"I think Dan is still going to play singles, but obviously last week he did a lot of doubles practice.
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"That's what I was predominantly practising and training when I was in Greece and since we'd been here, we've been practising and playing double sets together.
"That gives the team I know the best opportunity to get a medal."
Murray's back problem first flared up at Queen's Club in June, and forced him to withdraw from the men's singles at Wimbledon.
But he is determined to participate in Paris, given his long and illustrious history with the Games.
The Scot is the only male player to win two singles gold medals.
His victory at London 2012 was the catalyst for the most successful period of his career, as he landed three Grand Slam titles over the next four years.
The 37-year-old also beat Juan Martin Del Potro to claim another Olympic gold in Rio in 2016.
But he has been plagued by injury issues in the latter part of his career, culminating in the cyst in his back that he underwent surgery for on June 22, and has limited his court time since.
"I feel much better than I did at Wimbledon, obviously," he continued. "I mean, it was 10, 12 days after I had the operation.
"I didn't feel great obviously in the build-up to Wimbledon and during it. I feel better here. I took some days off after I finished at Wimbledon.
"I actually trained in rehab unbelievably hard and the time that I had before Wimbledon to give myself a chance to compete and get ready there, took a bit of time off and then I went over to Greece."
When asked if he would play singles in Paris, Murray responded: "I don't think so. I need to make that decision this evening, but yeah, I don't think so."
Retirement talk has followed Murray for some time, and he stated earlier this year that this was likely to be his final season on the ATP Tour.
"In some ways, the last few months have been really frustrating after what happened in Miami with my ankle and then what's happened with my back," Murray added. "It is extremely frustrating.
"But I also was told when I had the scan on my back after Queen's that I wouldn't play at Wimbledon. I wouldn't play at the Olympics either.
"I got the opportunity to play at Wimbledon and physically I'm - judging by how we've been doing in our practices - more than capable of competing and doing very well in the doubles as well.
"In some ways, you could say that's lucky, but it's been hard the last few months physically."
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