Ugo Humbert of France returns the ball to Andrew Murray from Great Britain during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray reiterated Wednesday that he is likely to retire from tennis before the season is over.
“I’m likely not going to play past this summer,” the 36-year-old Murray said after losing 6-2, 6-4 to fifth-seeded Ugo Humbert at the Dubai Championships.
After rallying past Denis Shapovalov in three sets on Monday for his 500th hard-court win, Murray hinted he was heading into the “last few months” of his career.
And he expanded a bit on those plans after losing to Humbert, although he stopped short of setting a firm timeline.
“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,” Murray said. “I’m not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But, yes, I don’t plan on playing much past this summer.”
Humbert didn’t face a break point before converting his first match point to reach the quarterfinals and secure his first career win over Murray, who lifted the trophy in Dubai in 2017.
Murray, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion, told BBC Radio earlier Wednesday that he wants to play at the Paris Games, which run from July 26-Aug. 11.
“Hopefully I can get the chance to compete at another (Olympics),” said Murray, who also won the U.S. Open in 2012.
Also, top-seeded Daniil Medvedev recovered from a set down to overcome Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.
Medvedev opened his title defense Tuesday by beating Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 7-5 in his first match since losing the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner.
Jiri Lehecka saved five match points before rallying to beat fourth-seeded Karen Khachanov 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-4 and Sebastian Korda cruised past Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-0.
In other second-round matches, second-seeded Andrey Rublev, the 2022 champion, advanced to the quarterfinals for the fifth straight time after eliminating Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-4.
Seventh-seeded Alexander Bublik also progressed with a 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2) win over Tallon Griekspoor.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
