Tennis: Tennis-Murray bristles at retirement talk after Indian Wells exit

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) – Andy Murray said he still plans to bring the curtain down on his illustrious career this summer and expressed frustration at repeatedly being asked about it, after falling 7-6(3) 6-1 to Andrey Rublev in the second round of Indian Wells on Friday.

The 36-year-old British player has said he would not play beyond this summer but whether that means he will hang up his racket for good after Wimbledon, the Paris Olympics or possibly the U.S. Open remains to be seen.

“I feel like no one is listening to me,” he told reporters.

“I’m planning on finishing in the summer. I don’t know what more I’m supposed to say. I’ve been getting asked about it for 18 months or so, and it’s obviously something I have thought about, but, you know, I hadn’t made a decision on.”

Murray has struggled for victories in recent months, falling in the first rounds of the Australian Open and two subsequent tournaments before reaching the second round of the Qatar Open and the Dubai Championships, where he beat Denis Shapovalov.

But after easing past David Goffin in the first round of Indian Wells he was unable to match Rublev’s power in the second set, despite the strong support of the crowd in the California desert.

The former world number one is the only man ever to win two Olympic singles titles and has said he would like to compete at the Paris Games but qualification for the now world number 61 is not guaranteed.

Many have suggested that Wimbledon, where he won two of his three Grand Slam titles, might be the logical place for him to call time on his career but no matter what, he said he will walk away satisfied.

“I’m sure all the players when they finish playing look back and probably wish there are things they would have done differently or could have done better,” he said.

“But I feel like I gave it a pretty good go. I worked hard, I put a lot into it. I didn’t miss many days of training through lack of discipline or poor decisions. Yeah, I gave it a good go.”

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)