‘You’re playing for something bigger than yourself’: Andy Murray withdraws from singles, looks to doubles in Olympics

By Amy Woodyatt, Christiane Amanpour, Alicia Lloyd and Ben Kirby, CNN

(CNN) — This year’s Olympics in Paris will be Andy Murray’s fifth – and final – appearance at the Games.

Now, the competition will look a little different for Murray – the only man in history to win two Olympic singles gold medals – as he has withdrawn from that event, as well as having announced his retirement from the sport itself once his run at Roland Garros ends.

However, the three-time grand slam champion will still play doubles alongside Dan Evans in what will be his last professional hurrah.

Murray says he has played “some of my best tennis when I’ve competed for my country,” he tells CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“The dynamics are quite different here being part of a huge team and representing your country, but I’ve always fed off that. I’ve really enjoyed the whole team.

“You’re playing for something just bigger than yourself. And I’ve really enjoyed that,” he adds.

While Murray doesn’t know who he will face in the Olympics, he adds that it would be “fun” to play against Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles.

“It would be fun to play against them. I mean, you know, they’re obviously two unbelievable players. They’ve not played loads of doubles together,” the 37-year-old told Amanpour.

“But, I mean, I think it’s brilliant for tennis and for the Olympics that they’re competing with each other. So it’d be a great opportunity [if] we got to play against them.”

Murray’s withdrawal from the men’s singles comes just days after he announced he was retiring from professional tennis in totality following the conclusion of the Olympics, noting that “a couple of months ago, I definitely was unsure about when I wanted to finish or if I wanted to finish.”

He consulted his family and team, he adds, “but ultimately, the decision had to come from me. I’m really happy about it. I’m happy that I get to finish playing an Olympics.

“Mentally, I still feel young, but physically … the last few years have been really hard for me. I’ve gone through quite a lot of surgeries … had a lot of injuries,” he explains.

Murray has suffered a plethora of health setbacks this year, including an ankle injury in March and undergoing surgery on a spinal cyst just before Wimbledon, where he was eventually unable to play in the singles competition.

“Recovering from those surgeries, it’s not the same as when you were in my early- or mid-20s. It takes, takes longer and with each one of those sort of… almost insults to the body, it just takes a little bit longer,” he explains.

The Scotsman won the first Olympic gold of his career representing Team GB at London 2012 after beating Roger Federer in straight sets just weeks after a heartbreaking defeat to the Swiss legend in the Wimbledon final.

That victory proved to be the catalyst for Murray’s first – and long awaited – triumph in SW19 the following year as he became the first British man in 77 years to lift the Wimbledon trophy.

“At the time, I didn’t take it in as much as I wish I had done. I just felt so relieved to finally have done it,” he adds.

He defended his Olympic title four years later in Rio, defeating Argentina’s Juan Martín del Potro in the final and also boasts a mixed doubles silver medal from London 2012.

A colorful legacy

While Murray himself tells CNN’s Amanpour he is unsure of what his legacy will be, the tennis star has become almost as famous for his criticisms of misogyny and promotion of the women’s game as he has for his own prodigious talent on the court.

The 37-year-old adds that sexism in the sport wasn’t something he had “given much thought to” in his teenage years and early 20s. Murray then turned to France’s former women’s No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo, becoming the first high-profile male tennis player to hire a woman as a coach – and the scrutiny heaped on the duo during their two-year partnership shocked him.

“There was a big change in attitude in terms [of] the way the players in the locker room were talking to me about her – even people who were part of my team.

“Each time I lost, I got asked a lot of questions about my coach and Amélie. I’d never experienced that before, and I realized that this was different. Around that time, I started to have a few more conversations with my mom about what it’s like – she’s worked in tennis for a long time as a female coach and some of the difficulties and challenges that she’s had. And, you know, it was quite eye-opening for me. And that was sort of when I started to realize that things needed to change a bit,” he explains.

He is, however, hopeful about the future of tennis, in particular, equal pay at major tournaments.

“I think there is still a way to go. But I also think that tennis is one of the best global sports in terms of how they treat men and women. It’s definitely not perfect, but I feel like tennis should probably celebrate that side of things more.”

The future

As for what’s next, Murray is undecided.

“I don’t know exactly what my legacy is and I don’t feel like it’s for me to decide that, it’s more for others. And what’s next: initially, I’m going to go home and I’m going to spend time with my family and be around my kids.

“I want to be home with them and take some time to, you know, relax and recover and have a think about what it is that I want to do next.

“I definitely still see myself having some involvement in tennis. I’m looking forward to something new now. But I’m not entirely sure of what that new is yet,” he adds.

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