Murray reveals Olympic hopes as he discusses potential retirement plans

Andy Murray hopes to play at another Olympic Games before he retires, but is unsure how he will reveal his plans to step away from tennis.

Three-time Grand Slam winner Murray, 36, has had a difficult start to 2024, losing four matches in a row before recording his first win in Doha.

He says he will “probably say something” ahead of playing the final tournament of his career.

“There’s no right way of finishing your career and everyone is different so what might be the right way for [Roger] Federer might not be the right way for [Rafael] Nadal, might not be the right way for [Novak] Djokovic,” he told the BBC.

“Everyone is different. Pete Sampras won the US Open and didn’t say anything, didn’t play tennis again.

“Roger Federer finished his career playing a doubles match with Rafael Nadal, who would have expected that? I thought it was an amazing way to finish with his greatest rival being on the same side of the net as him, I thought it was really special.

“When the time is right I will probably say something before I play my last match and my last tournament.

“Whether I say anything months ahead of time I don’t know.”

If Murray does step away from tennis this year it is expected he would do so after the summer.

Murray has enjoyed some of his best career moments at Wimbledon and the Olympics, and it seems likely he would like to play both at least once more if he has the chance.

Murray, who won gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016, said: “It’s been just brilliant experiences for me in London and Rio but I learned some great lessons from the Olympics in Beijing [where Murray lost in the first round].

“Hopefully I can get the chance to compete at another one.”

Wimbledon starts on July 1 and is then followed by the Paris Olympics, which starts on July 24.

Asked how he blocks out any noise surrounding his future, Murray added: “Just try and do the things that I can control very well. Work hard on the practice court, make sure I stay consistent with the things I practice and work on and things I believe in.

“It can be quite easy if you’re not playing well and not winning matches from one week to the next to try to find a solution, it can be the serve one week, the forehand the next, or whatever. Actually just trying to stick to the drills and the practice and hope things get better and turn around.”

Murray plays fifth seed Ugo Humbert in the last 16 in Dubai on Wednesday.