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Andy Murray opened his Dubai Tennis Championships campaign with a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Denis Shapovalov on Monday, February 26.
The win was significant, given Murray’s forgettable 1-5 start to the season, which led to observers questioning whether it was time for the Brit to pull the plug on his career. Former World No. 1 Jimmy Connors believes that the only person who should decide on Murray’s retirement is the player himself.
The American, during his latest appearance on the Advantage Connors podcast, said that observers can continue to make comments about Murray’s career graph, but his past accomplishments speak for themselves.
"There's only one guy who's going to know when it's time for Andy Murray to stop and that's him," Connors said. "Yeah, you know you've got these armchair quarterbacks sitting back saying, you know, he's too old, he's too, this, he's not what he used to be."
"Everybody gets older, but you remember him for all the great things that he did, all the Wimbledons and Olympic medal and things like that, and let him worry about how he wants to go out," he added.
Connors said if Murray was still enjoying his tennis and did not mind the travel and hectic schedule, there was no reason for him to hang up his racket.
"If he's still enjoying it, if he doesn't mind the travel and, the aches and pains afterwards that, uh, you know, all that entails there and that just doesn't mean on the court, that means everything that goes into it," Connors said.
"You know, there's only one guy that's going to say, you know, say to him, don't you think you've had enough and then something one day he'll listen to himself," he added.
"Let Andy Murray enjoy what he wants to do" - Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors noted that Andy Murray has put in the time over the years and should be allowed to enjoy this phase of his career.
The American added that Murray was still pushing top names to third-set tiebreakers, which he said was a testament to his abilities.
"Andy Murray has put the time in, you know let him enjoy what he wants to do," Connors said. "If he's still going 7-6 in the in the third set, you know that doesn't mean that he's not competing."
"I mean he's in the matches, he's digging and playing and you said it, I mean, you know, there's nothing like going out there and knowing that you've done everything that you could do along the way and you still got the crowd behind you," he added.
Murray will next take on Ugo Humbert for a place in the Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals. The Frenchman got the better of Gael Monfils in his opener.
