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Murray still has Olympic goals, Medvedev on track to emulate legends

The three-time Grand Slam winner conceded after the tame defeat that he might not play the sport after the summer this year

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Daniil Medvedev hits a return during his match on Wednesday. — Photo by Muhammad Sajjad
by

Rituraj Borkakoty

Published: Thu 29 Feb 2024, 7:20 AM

Andy Murray is unlikely to step on the Dubai centre court as a professional tennis player ever again. A former champion at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Murray cut a frustrating figure on Wednesday evening during his 6-2, 6-4 loss to Frenchman Ugo Humbert.

Unable to match his opponent’s energy, the 36-year British was left chasing lost balls in a hopelessly one-sided battle.

This was Murray’s sixth defeat in eight matches this season.

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The British icon seemed to have given up hopes on regaining his mojo in a career filled with Grand Slam triumphs, Olympic gold medals and epic battles with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal,

The three-time Grand Slam winner conceded after the tame defeat that he might not play the sport after the summer this year.

"I'm likely not going to play past this summer," he said.

"I get asked about it after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play. I'm bored of the question, to be honest.

"I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop.

"But yeah, I don't plan on playing much past this summer."

Britain's Andy Murray reacts during his round of 16 match against France's Ugo Humbert. — Reuters

His adoring fans gave him a standing ovation as he left the centre court in Dubai where he beat Fernando Verdasco in the 2017 final to write his name in the honours board of this tournament.

While Murray’s campaign came to an early end in another tournament, following his two second round defeats and three first round losses this year, top seed and world number four Daniil Medvedev kept his hopes alive of defending the Dubai title.

The Russian had to dig deep against hard-hitting Italian Lorenzo Sonego before completing a 3-6 6-3 6-3 win to enter the quarterfinals.

“I didn’t play well in the first set, I was not feeling well, was making a lot of mistakes. I changed a few things and tried to be more calm in the next two sets and it worked,” the 28-year-old said.

The 2021 US Open champion is looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking five-set defeat to Sonego’s compatriot Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final with a strong run in Dubai.

Medvedev also has a chance of emulating Federer and Djokovic, the only players to have defended the Dubai title.

“I am feeling good here, really fast court, good conditions and I am able to play good tennis here, even though the first set was not good tonight. So it’s a good feeling,” he said.

Fans enjoying the action at the Dubai centre court. — Photo by Muhammad Sajjad

Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev, Medvedev’s childhood friend, earlier became the first player to reach the quarterfinal on Wednesday afternoon.

The 2022 Dubai champion was in top form and his game was too strong for French qualifier Arthur Cazaux whose dream run ended in 6-4 6-4 defeat.

Sebastian Korda, who is making his Dubai debut 25 years after his father, Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion, played here for the third and final time, advanced to the quarterfinals with an emphatic 6-1 6-0 win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Korda’s reward is a last-eight battle with second seed Russian Rublev as the world number 33 would look to emulate his father who reached the Dubai semifinals in 1995.

While the 23-year-old Korda is flying the flag for American tennis which hasn’t produced men’s singles Grand Slam winner since 2003, Murray is pondering about a life off the court after the 2024 summer.

But before he hangs up his racquet, he would love to go into another Olympic Games. Which would require him to play tournaments before the start of the Paris Games (July 26-August 11)

"I like the tournament. I like playing at Roland Garros,” he said of the iconic French Open venue which will host the tennis matches at the Olympics.

"Obviously if you want to do well at the Olympics, you probably are going to have to play some tournaments and get matches in on the clay.

"Yeah, even if the Olympics was not after Wimbledon, I would still want to play it,” added Murray, the only player in history to have won two Olympic singles gold medals.

Rituraj Borkakoty

Published: Thu 29 Feb 2024, 7:20 AM

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