Despite the last few years of his career feeling like an unexpected bonus, it’s easy to believe that Andy Murray competing on a tennis court was just becoming ever-present within the sporting world. If he can play with a metal hip and come back to Wimbledon only 2 weeks after major back surgery, what’s stopping him from playing with an arthritic knee and a walking stick?

Even his countless accolades such as 2 Olympic Gold Medals and 2 Wimbledon titles didn’t satisfy him enough to finish competing in 2019. A hip resurfacing surgery, countless operations and sustained periods of self-doubt were all endured to continue a career that almost no one expected to last this long. Yet, seeing him retire in Paris still felt so unusual. Surely there was more. Surely one more scintillating fightback was still in the tank.

You’re talking about Andy Murray here. A man that overcame the 3 greatest male players of all time, broke the record for victories from two sets down at 11 and, oh yes, played professional tennis on a metal hip. He was not your typical athlete. Very little players could take the average fan through the emotional ringer of anxiety to jubilation to licensed hip experts all within the space of one professional career, but for Andy’s biggest fans, this was normal. You will miss the anxiety; you will miss the injury comebacks; and of course you will miss the moments of triumph. As Radio 1 DJ Greg James wrote so perfectly on Threads, “It’s going to be awful having to watch tennis and not feeling sick to your stomach isn’t it?”

Andy wasn’t like Novak, Rafa or Roger. Winning multiple majors, raising the ceiling of the sport, and transcending the eras of those before him wasn’t Andy. He was never going to be them. Unlike them, he had a unique mentality that defined him the most. His sheer bloody-mindedness and will to win was the best of his era. So many others tried and failed to overcome the ‘Big 3’, but Andy succeeded many times. That’s why despite the countless titles and victories that many will remember him for, I will remember him most for one distinct moment; a moment in which his will to win was unlike any other. It wasn’t a Grand Slam title, it wasn’t an Olympic gold, and it wasn’t a Davis cup, but it was a magical night in Melbourne, just last year.

“Midnight Madness in Melbourne” – Murray’s defining moment

Four years after life-changing hip resurfacing surgery, the Scot is 2 sets and a break down to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis during his 2023 Australian Open second-round match at almost 1am. Murray has break point on Kokkinakis’ serve to bring the score back to 2-1 in the third set.

Kokkinakis serves and quickly Murray is down and out in the point. Being completely dictated around the court by the racket of the Aussie, miraculously, Murray would retrieve 4 Kokkinakis smashes, all from opposite sides of the court. Kokkinakis then put a simple forehand into the net and Murray got the break. Remarkably, Murray is back in a match that looked almost impossible to win. The raucous Australian crowd is stunned by what they have just seen. Murray casually cups his ear to the Margaret Court Arena crowd, calling for them to make more noise and almost mocking them in the process. Instantly, it felt like the match had completely altered in its direction.

Andy would go on to win the match in 5 hours and 45 minutes at 4am in the morning – the longest of his career. Never had you seen one single point completely define an entire career. From the depths of nothing, Murray created something extraordinary to overcome the impossible, captivating the crowd in the process. The same player often torn down throughout his career for being too boring and too dull, was now singlehandedly turning the Margaret Court Arena into an inferno of noise, after two hours on court, on a metal hip, at 1am. Need I say more? An era-defining point, an era-defining match, and the night in which a British sporting great had somehow elevated his stature to a completely new stratosphere.

The Perfect Conclusion – His Wimbledon and Olympic Farewell

It couldn’t have felt more fitting to end his competitive career with the two most important events of his life, the Olympics and Wimbledon. With the threat of a depressing end to his professional career at Queen’s back in June and major back surgery soon afterwards, to be told then he would finish his career at the Paris Olympics, winning two matches, and making you jump out of your seat one more time would have felt ludicrous. Yet, Murray returned from the brink again, and didn’t he make it memorable. Crying on a bench, stirring up the crowd into a frenzy, randomly sharing stories of vomiting and, oh yes, saving 7 match points, his final weeks at SW19 and Paris felt like the most Andy Murray way for him to close out his career.

Despite playing tennis far away from his best, on a crumbling body, being carried by his partner and having the new British tennis Superstar cancelling on him before his last Wimbledon outing, the final two weeks felt like the best his retirement could possibly be. Seeing Andy finally at ease with the knowledge his illustrious career was over , truly warmed the soul. From a man despairing at his potentially sudden retirement in 2019, to a man lapping up rapturous applause from adoring crowds at his most successful events almost 5 years afterwards, retirement had finally come to him at the right time. Andy will leave a huge void within British tennis for those currently in the game to fill in the years to come. But whether he continues in the sport as a coach or takes time away from the sport, his legacy on the generations to come will be unmatched. Andy Murray cannot just be looked as one of the greatest figures in the history of his sport, but also undoubtedly, as one of the greatest athletes in British sporting history.

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