Andy Murray still insists he is not ready to retire from tennis despite a wretched start on the court in 2024.
The former world No 1 has lost his last six matches, crashing out in the first round of the last five tournaments he has entered.
Murray has previously admitted that this year could be his final season as a professional as long-term injury problems catch up with him.
But he has so far refused to give in and has batted away any claims that he is tarnishing his legacy by continuing to play.
Andy Murray insists he is not ready to retire yet
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Last month, responding to an article suggesting that Murray could do just that, the Scot wrote on X: "Tarnishing my legacy? Do me a favour. I’m in a terrible moment right now I’ll give you that.
"Most people would quit and give up in my situation right now. But I’m not most people and my mind works differently. I won’t quit.
"I will keep fighting and working to produce the performances I know I’m capable of."
Murray has not been able to silence his doubters with his form on the court, though.
He hasn't won a match since beating Yannick Hanfmann in the first round of the Swiss Indoors last October.
He has lost his next six matches, including an early exit at the Australian Open against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
But ahead of his Qatar Open clash against Alexandre Muller on Tuesday, Murray is still adamant he will not listen to any outside noise calling for him to retire.
Murray said: "When I was in my early 20s, I would have mainly young fans that would come up to you and ask for autographs, now I get more older people, whose bodies are falling apart.
"They are kind of like: 'It's great that you keep going, it's inspired me to get out and keep training', so the demographic has changed a little bit.
"It's nice, I can do whatever I want. I don't have to do what fans, journalists or anyone is telling me to do.
"Qualifying for all these tournaments on my right, on my ranking and all the matches that I've won, I want to keep playing just now. So I'm not going to stop."
Murray admits he has never before suffered a run of form as poor as he is currently experiencing.
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Andy Murray has previously admitted 2024 could be his final year on tour
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But he is confident that he can still produce a level of tennis that will see him win again.
Murray added: "Tennis-wise it hasn't been a great start to the year. I've never experienced a period like this as a professional.
"It's been difficult, a new experience for me [which] is not the nicest, but good to experience new things and try and learn from them.
"I've never really experienced playing really well in practice and not being able to translate it to a match court before, it was always the opposite for me.
Andy Murray hasn't
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"I was never a great practice player, I [never] used to win practice matches, exhibition matches; it's been the complete opposite for me recently.
"I know there's better tennis in me than I'm showing just now, but I'm hoping I can turn it around.
"Physically, I'm not expecting to feel how I did when I was 20, so it's hard when you get to your mid to late 30s to stay at the level required to beat the best players.
"Certainly, tennis-wise I know I can play a lot better than I have been. I know there's better tennis in me than I'm showing just now, but I'm hoping I can turn it around."
