Overcome with emotion, the three-time Grand Slam champion wept at a media conference as he revealed that he had initially planned to quit after playing this year’s Wimbledon tournament, but now felt Melbourne Park might end up his swansong. “There’s a chance of that, for sure. I’m not sure if I will be able to play through the pain for another four or five months,” said the 31-year-old Briton, now ranked 230th in the world.

“The pain is too much, really, and I don’t want to continue playing that way. The pain is not allowing me to enjoy competing or training or any of the stuff I love about tennis.” Five-time runner-up at Melbourne Park, Murray had a surgery on the joint a year ago, having played with pain for a number of years. He came back last June, but was forced to cut his 2018 season short. While still struggling during a pre-season camp in December, Murray said he had told his team that he felt he could not go on for much longer.

“I said to my team, ‘Look, I think I can kind of get through this until Wimbledon.’ That is where I’d like to stop — stop playing. But I’m also not certain if I will be able to do that.”