Andy Murray’s retirement from professional tennis will leave his older brother Jamie Murray alone on the ATP Tour. The 3-time Grand Slam champion announced that he will likely play until the end of the European summer, though he hasn’t given a definitive date for his departure from the courts.
This will be particularly special for his brother Jamie, as they have shared nearly 20 years on the Tour together. The 38-year-old tennis player still hopes to remain active for a while, despite taking on a new role as the director of the Queens Club Championship.
The elder Murray is currently at the French Open, participating in the main draw of doubles alongside Australian Michael Venus. They entered as the 13th seed and debuted with a win against the Spanish duo of Pedro Martínez and Jaume Munar. After the victory, Murray commented on what his brother’s absence on the tour will mean, expressing how it will feel different and emphasizing the special bond they shared during their nearly 20 years on the Tour together.
“That will be weird to not have him there,” Jamie said. “I mean, obviously it’s a fairly unique situation to have your brother doing the same job as you at a high-level sport and traveling the world together. That is a nice thing, even if, you know, we don’t spend loads of time together at the events just because schedules and stuff can be very different,” the former doubles world No. 1 added.
“But you know that in the background you’ve always got someone from your family there, which is nice even if you’re not accessing it all the time. When he does stop, whenever that is, it’ll be strange not to have him on the tour. Because we’ve been doing the same thing for like 20 years basically. It’ll be a big miss,” Jamie added.