‘He’s a fun guy, it’s going to be sad’ — Medvedev pays tribute to Murray

The 2024 Australian Open men’s singles runner-up has extolled soon-to-retire Andy Murray following the Brit’s admission after exiting the Dubai Tennis Championship on Wednesday.

World number four and one-time Grand Slam winner Danil Medvedev has celebrated Andy Murray following the Scotsman’s Wednesday admission that Tennis retirement is imminent.

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What did Murray say about retirement?

Murray had previously hinted that the end was near in the weeks leading up to the Dubai Tennis Championship, but the 36-year-old conceded after Ugo Humbert claimed a 6-2 6-4 win in 89 minutes on Centre Court.

“I mean, I’m likely not gonna play past the summer. You know, I get asked about it [retirement] after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play, and I’m bored of the question, to be honest,” the three-time Grand Slam winner said. “And yeah, I’m not gonna talk about that more between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But yeah, I don’t plan on playing much past this summer.”

“I’m likely not going to play past this summer”

Andy Murray on when he plans to hang up the racket… https://t.co/VaoIZq2Lxd pic.twitter.com/M5TVCcNKTo

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 28, 2024

Murray made his ATP Tour debut in 2005 and has since claimed 46 career titles, including three Majors and two gold medals at the Olympic Games. The Brit is the only tennis player to win two Olympic singles gold medals and stands alone as the only star to claim titles at a Grand Slam, World Tour Finals, Olympic Games and Masters 1000 in the same year.

Having already won gold on two separate surfaces — grass in 2012 and hard court in 2016 — Murray revealed his Paris 2024 ambition earlier this week.

“Hopefully I can get the chance to compete at another one,” Murray told BBC Radio.

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Andy Murray

Andy Murray defeated Roger Federer to claim a gold medal at London 2012 (Credit: Imago)

What did Medvedev say about Murray?

Reacting to Murray’s acknowledgement on Wednesday, Medvedev paid tribute to the three-time Grand Slam winner.

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“First of all, he’s a fun guy, a great guy to be around. That’s always a great quality in life,” the world No 4 said. “For sure he’s an inspiration of mine because I remember when I was just going up the rankings, that’s the moment when he was winning Slams, playing finals against Roger, Rafa and Novak. So the ‘Big Four’.

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev holds a 3-0 in his head-to-head with Andy Murray

“It’s going to be sad when he retires. Even I’m definitely not sure that he’s going to stop this year. Wimbledon is a big tournament, maybe Wimbledon and then stop. But while he’s here, it’s going to be fun. [When] he’s not here, I’m sure he’s going to find a good spot in his life after tennis.”

My questions to Andy Murray and Daniil Medvedev made it to @TennisTV and @eurosport respectively.

Good start to the day @TalkingTennisTT pic.twitter.com/NwAt0r79qp

— Srihari (@srihariravi12) February 29, 2024

Medvedev needed three sets to defeat Lorenzo Sonego in Dubai on Wednesday, and the 2021 US Open winner hopes to secure passage to the semis when he takes on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday afternoon.