Andy Murray deserved to retire “more gracefully,” says Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios says the physical torture Andy Murray endured to prolong his tennis career was “not worth it” and he deserves to retire “more gracefully”.

The Scot, a three-time Grand Slam winner, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men’s doubles in August after a straight set defeat alongside Dan Evans.

Murray, 37, had major hip surgery in 2018 and 2019 and the Scot spoke openly about his retirement at the 2019 Australian Open.

He managed to play for another five years, but did not make it past the third round at any of the four majors.

Australian Kyrgios, who has not competed since August 2023 due to his own injury problems, says he has no plans to retire but will not subject his body to the same turmoil as Murray.

“I look at how Andy Murray is doing it now and how Rafael is doing it [Nadal] goes out, I don’t want to be like that either. In a way, I don’t want to crawl to the finish line,” Kyrgios said on The Louis Theroux podcast.

“What Andy Murray has achieved in this sport is essentially beyond anyone’s…unless you’re Novak.” [Djokovic], [Roger] Federer or Nadal, the next person is Andy Murray.

“It’s like you’ve achieved everything. You deserve to go out a little more gracefully, I think, than he did.”

“I think the surgeries and the pain are just not worth it in my opinion.”