Yardbarker
x

Former world number one Andy Murray's stature in British tennis is unmatched. The 38-year-old retired from professional tennis in 2024 after struggling with fitness concerns for several years. Murray’s last appearance was for his country at the Paris Olympics, where he featured in the doubles category with Dan Evans.

Their journey eventually ended in the quarterfinals stage, where they suffered a defeat to the pair of Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. Despite bidding farewell to the sport, Murray remains in the spotlight for different reasons.

Murray finished his career with three major titles, two of which came while playing on home soil. In a recent development, one of the racquets that Murray used during one of those triumphs was sold for a whopping sum of $73,200, according to ESPN. Murray used that racquet to lift his first Wimbledon title in 2013, where he defeated the former world number one Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

While doing so, he became the first and, to date, the only British player to win a Wimbledon title in the Open era. Despite his racquet being sold for a handsome amount of money, it is nowhere near the most expensive racquet that was sold in the history of tennis. That racquet belonged to the former world number one, Rafael Nadal, whom he used in his 2017 French Open-winning campaign. That racquet was sold for $157,000.

Murray’s second Wimbledon title came in 2016 when he defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. Other than that, Murray won the US Open title in 2012 as well. In that tournament, he defeated Djokovic once again in the final, that time in a five-set thriller with a score of 7–6(12–10), 7–5, 2–6, 3–6, 6–2.

Incredible achievements 

Interestingly, soon after retiring from the sport, Murray went on to become Djokovic’s coach. That partnership did not last long as the two decided to part ways just six months after. "Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court. I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together,” wrote Djokovic in a post on social media to announce the development.

In a recent interview with the Daily Express, Murray revealed that the experience of working with Djokovic was a ' great experience’. Murray also then went on to highlight that he is more than open to returning to coaching, but only if the player is based in London, which would not force him to travel at times when there is no tennis.

“Am I waiting for someone to call and ask me to coach them? No, no,” said Murray. “Obviously with Novak I did it for a period and it was great experience and it was a unique opportunity to do it but there are certain things about the job. If you want to do it well, you need to spend time on the road. If it is a British player that is London-based, it becomes easier because the off weeks, at least you are close to home. But if it is a player who lives elsewhere, it means a lot of time away from the family and I have no interest in doing that just now because I don’t want to be away from them. I think in the future I would probably do it again - it is not like I hated it so much that I wouldn't do it. There were bits of it that I liked but for now I just don’t want to be on the road and I don’t want to do it.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (@dunhilllinks)

This article first appeared on TennisUpToDate.com and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!