Andy Murray announces plans to retire from tennis

Melbourne: Andy Murray announced, on Friday that he plans to retire after this year's Wimbledon because of his hip injury but fears next week's Australian Open could be the final tournament of his career.

The three-time Grand Slam winner Murray (31), who is struggling to recover from a hip surgery, gave an emotional interview at Melbourne Park with tears in his eyes. He said that the pain had become too much to bear and that he had made the decision last month during his training camp.

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"I'm not sure I'm able to play through the pain for another four or five months."

"I want to get to Wimbledon and stop but I'm not certain I can do that."

Murray conceded: "I'm not feeling good, I've been struggling for a long time."

"I've been in a lot of pain for about 20 months now. I've pretty much done everything I could to try and get my hip feeling better and it hasn't helped loads."

"I'm in a better place than I was six months ago but I'm still in a lot of pain. I can still play to a level, but not a level I have played at."

However, he said that he still aspire to play his Australian Open first-round match against Spanish 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut on January 14.

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It is to be mentioned that Andy had surgery on his right hip last January and has played 14 matches since returning to the sport last June.

Six years ago, Murray became the first British player to win at home at Wimbledon after defeating Novak Djokovic in the 2012 US Open final, since Fred Perry in 1936.

He has won two other grand slams and is the only player to have won back-to-back Olympic singles gold medals.

Murray received a knighthood for his tennis achievements and charity work on the eve of 2017.

He will become the first member of tennis' so-called "Big Four" that includes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and him- to retire from the game.

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