Andy Murray upended by Andrey Rublev in what may have been his final match in Indian Wells
The 2024 BNP Paribas Open marks the 16th time tennis great Andy Murray has played the tournament at Indian Wells, but if his proclamation that he plans to retire this summer holds true, Friday's match may be his last in the desert.
Murray, who beat David Goffin on Wednesday in his first-round match, drew a tough opponent Friday in No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev. The 36-year-old Brit played Rublev even in the first set before falling in a tiebreaker, and he went on to drop the match 7-6 (3), 6-1.
"Yeah, I did pretty well in the first set and probably, you know, had maybe done enough to maybe nick it at the end there. I didn't play a great tiebreak," Murray said. "You know, he was very good behind his first serve. And his forehand, obviously when he had time, is one of the best in the game. Certainly not easy to defend against that sort of power."
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist, would finish his career at Indian Wells with a 31-16 record if this was indeed his final match in the desert. His record was highlighted by a run to the final in 2009 where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Murray's 16 appearances in this event are just two shy of the men's record set by Roger Federer.
He didn't want to talk about the concept of his retirement, but he was asked when he does finally call it quits, what will give him the most satisfaction in his career, and he pointed to his pride in his work ethic.
"I'd say probably, yeah, when I look back, when I finish, I think, like 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," Murray said. "But I feel like, you know, I gave it a pretty good go. I worked, I did work hard, I put a lot into it. I didn't, yeah, I didn't miss many days of training through lack of discipline or poor decisions. So in that aspect, yeah, I can't have too many regrets."
As for Rublev, the talented Russian player moves into Sunday's third round where he will face No. 32 seed Jiri Lehecka, who knocked out Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Rublev has the game to make a run at the title here, but he hasn't had a ton of success breaking through in the biggest tournaments. He has never reached a Grand Slam final, and he picked up his first Masters 1000 win last year at Monte Carlo. His best finish in Indian Wells was a semifinal run in 2022 when he lost to eventual champion Taylor Fritz.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Andy Murray drops what may be final match in Indian Wells
