Andy Murray reveals he has no fear about his future after tennis

Andy Murray‘s enforced confinement at home through injury and the lockdown has taken away any fear he had about the future after tennis.

In a new departure the twice Wimbledon champion chatted with Novak Djokovic via Instagram on Friday night, and admitted that he has had to get used to a new way of life.

Murray told one of his great rivals that he has enjoyed his time off the road, which goes back well beyond the current crisis, because of the time spent with his young family.

‘I saw my kids going out cycling and swimming for the first time,’ said the 32 year-old Scot. ‘ I guess you are learning a new way of living, you are so used to the travelling. I realise once tennis is done for me I will be just fine.’

Djokovic, who is isolating at his base in Marbella, also conceded that the present situation has taken some getting used to: ‘We have been six weeks in 24 hour lockdown here – as a tennis player it’s really weird being in one place, you never fully relax on tour,’ he said. ‘ I haven’t experienced that for 15 years. I’m getting to know myself as a father and a husband.’

Murray admitted that his struggles with overcoming hip problems were multi-dimensional, and went beyond the physical: ‘The psychological thing is the hardest thing to get back from,’ he said. ‘ You lose a little bit of your aura, opponents see you coming back from an injury and maybe they see a bit of weakness. So you have to build that up again.’

The two contemporaries chatted amiably about their careers together, but avoided any discussion about the serious problems facing the sport at present. Asked to single out his toughest loss to Djokovic, Murray mentioned the 2016 French Open final.

‘If I could change one result, Roland Garros. Clay was such a tough surface for me, the biggest challenge. I think that would have been my biggest achievement if I had managed to win the French.’

They discussed the best matches they had played each other, and agreed that the five-set Australian Open semi-final in 2012 which Djokovic edged stood out in terms of quality.

The Serbian also cited the 2012 Olympics semi-final, played at Wimbledon, as high level, although Murray seemed not to count that among their highlights, even though he won.

The two players compared notes on the most difficult aspects of any opponents game that they had come up against.

They agreed that the two most difficult serves on tour to cope with belong to John Isner and Nick Kyrgios. They both rated each other’s return as the best they had come across, and they also singled out Juan Martin Del Potro’s forehand as lethal.

In confessing their worst personal habits, Murray revealed that his wife Kim is driven mad by him leaving the cap off tubes of toothpaste.

Roger Federer and his management group have postponed this year’s Laver Cup between Europe and the World after its date was compromised by the movement of the French Open. 

Roland Garros is now due to start on September 20 for two weeks, creating the clash with Federer’s event, which was due to take place in Boston.