Andy Murray confirms he will retire from tennis after Olympics in Paris

Andy Murray has officially announced that he will be stepping away from professional tennis following his participation in the Olympic Games in Paris.

On Tuesday morning, Murray shared on X: "I have just arrived in Paris for my final tennis tournament. Representing Great Britain has been the most unforgettable experience of my career, and I am incredibly proud to have the opportunity to compete one last time!"

Murray has had great success at the Olympics, winning two singles gold medals in London and Rio, as well as a silver in mixed doubles with Laura Robson. Paris will be his fifth time competing in the Olympics, starting in Beijing in 2008.

Murray is set to play in both singles and doubles with Dan Evans at the Olympics held on clay courts at Roland Garros. It is not yet certain if the 37-year-old will compete in singles following his recent back surgery four weeks ago.

In the last five years, many people thought Murray would stop playing in 2019. However, he has kept playing at a very high level after receiving hip surgery in 2019. Last year, the ex-number one player reached the 36th spot in the ATP rankings, which was his best ranking since getting the surgery and playing with a metal hip.

From the latter part of last year, Murray has been facing difficulties with both his performance and physical health. Just as it appeared he was starting to play better in March, he suffered ligament damage in his ankle during the Miami Open, forcing him to take a seven-week break.

Just one day after his victory in his first ATP match since getting hurt, Murray had to leave his second-round game at Queen's because of intense back pain. He later had surgery to remove a cyst in his spine.

Murray impressively came back to compete just 12 days after his surgery, so he could play at Wimbledon one last time with his brother Jamie in the men's doubles. The pair narrowly lost their first round match to the Australian team of Rinky Hijikata and John Peers. Murray was honored with an emotional ceremony following the match. He was also set to play with Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles, but she decided to withdraw before the first round as a safety measure before her singles match in the last 16.

This summer, Murray has been discussing his retirement plans. He initially wanted to retire after the Olympics, but he also wanted to play in the doubles draw to improve his chances of success. However, after undergoing back surgery, Murray's future in tennis became uncertain. He wasn't sure if he would recover in time for Wimbledon or the Olympics. Murray made it clear that he had no plans to compete in the US Open and that his family had already planned a holiday after the Olympics. He mentioned that if he was able to play at Wimbledon and the Olympics, it would likely be his last tournaments. Murray shared these thoughts on the eve of Wimbledon.

Once the Great Britain Olympic tennis team arrived in Paris from London on Monday, they wasted no time getting back to work. Murray and Evans hit the courts first, practicing on Court Philippe-Chatrier before moving to an outdoor court for some intense doubles training against Salisbury and Skupski, the top-ranked British doubles team. Murray seemed to be moving better and looking more comfortable on the court after two weeks of rehabilitation. The team will find out their opponents for the upcoming tournament after the tennis draw ceremony on Thursday morning.