Andy Murray set to retire soon: 'I'm likely not going to play past this summer'

Andy Murray has given his clearest indication yet that he is on the verge of retirement after stating that he is unlikely to continue playing beyond this summer.

Murray has endured a difficult start to the season, losing six of eight matches, including his most recent on Wednesday in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to fifth seed Ugo Humbert.

Ever since undergoing radical hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, the former world No 1 has struggled to recapture the form that led him to three Grand Slam titles, leading to near-constant speculation about his future.

Speaking after his 6-2, 6-4 loss to Humbert, Murray again addressed the talk surrounding his possible retirement, hinting that he is set to call it quits in the next few months.

"I'm likely not going to play past this summer," Murray, 36, said. "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. I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But yeah, I don't plan on playing much past this summer."

That would suggest an appropriate swansong at Wimbledon, where Murray made history in 2013 as the first British male singles champion in 77 years. The Scot, who won his first major at the US Open in 2012, claimed his second Wimbledon crown in 2016.

Murray had hinted last month, after his first-round exit, that he had likely played his last Australian Open, a tournament where he has finished runner-up five times. The same is now set to be the case at the French Open in May. Murray has missed the past three French Opens in favour of longer preparation for the grass-court season, but with the end in sight, he is planning