"End up looking back and start to second guess": John McEnroe sends stark warning to Andy Murray amid potential retirement from tennis

Renowned tennis personality John McEnroe has commented on Andy Murray's recent contemplation of retirement. Following his first-round defeat to Grigor Dimitrov (6-4, 5-7, 2-6) at the Brisbane International and a subsequent loss to former US Open champion Marin Cilic in the Kooyong charity match, Murray's future in the sport has been a topic of discussion.

Murray has expressed a desire to extend his career, contingent upon maintaining a competitive standing. McEnroe shared his perspective on Murray's potential retirement, stating, "It’s going to be hard for him to continue if he’s No 45 in the world because this is one of the great players in the last 15 years."

“And it’s also going to be hard for him to to retire because he loves the game and he wants that one big run, that chance of playing Novak [Djokovic] in the semis or final of a major or Rafa [Nadal],” McEnroe added.

“But it’s very rare you ever go out the way you want to go out. Look at Pete Sampras, he won the US Open at 31 years old, and decided this was the perfect time. ‘I got 14 majors, no one’s gonna ever catch me.”

“I wonder if he looks back now, 20 years later and goes ‘Maybe I should have kept playing because I didn’t realise that these other guys are gonna get 20 and 25, or 24 and 22,” the 7-times Grand Slam champion added.

“So even when it seems like it’s the perfect time to stop, you could end up looking back and start to second guess. Unfortunately as an athlete you feel like you’re always doing that. So it’s not the easiest thing to accept,” McEnroe concluded.

Following his recent defeat to Marin Cilic, Andy Murray opened up about his performance over the past year. “I really didn’t feel good on the court at all last year so hopefully with a few improvements and feeling a bit better, I can certainly challenge the top players. When you’re not playing well, it’s not as easy to win matches. When you’re playing well if you’re confident in your game, it becomes easier,” 3-yimes Grand Slam champion said.

“If you’ve been a top player playing the highest level of the game and then your rankings drops and you’re probably not winning as many matches and you get in those situations, you probably don’t cope with them as well.”

“Last year, I felt like because I was not serving well, when it came serving for matches, I was not getting many free points, ending up in long rallies, just not feeling comfortable on the court. So hopefully with some improved serving and feeling a bit better about my game, when I put myself in those situations, it goes well,” Murray concluded.