John McEnroe delivers plea to Andy Murray after changing his Wimbledon plans
John McEnroe is keen for Andy Murray to stay in tennis after the British star ruled out working at Wimbledon this year as he continues to search for his next move
Tennis legend John McEnroe has issued a heartfelt plea for Andy Murray to stay involved in the sport as he searches for the next steps in his career.
Murray, 38, dabbled in coaching shortly after retiring last year, but notably parted ways with Novak Djokovic and shrugged off the chance to be a Wimbledon pundit. After bowing out of his playing career following the Paris Olympics last summer, two-time Wimbledon champion Murray teamed up with Djokovic in November.
The collaboration proved to be short-lived, though, with the former rivals deciding to part ways half a year later. However, McEnroe, who is working for the BBC during Wimbledon, is adamant that Murray should continue exploring opportunities within tennis as he believes the Scotsman can hugely benefit the sport.
It’s been two decades since Murray first competed at Wimbledon, yet this year, he won’t be making an appearance at the Grand Slam. As he’s not playing or serving any sideline roles at the All England Club, Murray recently spearheaded the Centre Stage tour – a series of talks about his tennis journey, with the final show hosted at New Wimbledon Theatre.
McEnroe, who brought his Wimbledon travel plans forward to attend the tour, shared a candid message with Murray. “Andy, I hope that you stay involved with the sport, in whatever way you’re happy with,” McEnroe said, as reported by the Telegraph.
He added: “This sport needs you and it would love you to be around on a somewhat regular basis.” A few months removed from Murray’s brief coaching journey, both he and Djokovic have acknowledged that things didn’t pan out as hoped.
During the first evening of his tour, Murray reminisced about the surprising request from Djokovic. “We had a chat on the phone and he asked me if I would consider coaching him, which I wasn’t expecting. I think it was a pretty unique opportunity,” Murray recalled. “I was really enjoying being at home but I thought I should give it a go and see whether I enjoyed it.”
After a short pause, he added: “I’m not sure if I did.” During the final night of his tour, Murray quipped: “I had better not say any more as I can see Novak’s agents are in the audience.”
Murray helped guide 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic to the Australian Open semi-finals earlier this year. Djokovic appreciated Murray accepting his offer to coach him and explained why they separated.
“It was mutual. We both wanted to have a call and to speak, so we – actually, we both were on the same page,” Djokovic admitted. “So it was not, you know, his initiative or my initiative. It was both of us coming together and just saying, you know, I think we should stop here. That’s what it was.”