Wimbledon should build a statue of Andy Murray to commemorate his achievements, according to John McEnroe.
And the American legend reckons the metal-hipped Scot would have won even more big titles if his career had not been dogged by injuries.
The All England Club has busts of five female British winners at the front of the clubhouse and unveiled a statue of three-time champion Fred Perry in 1984. Murray’s Wimbledon triumph in 2013 was the first by a British male in the singles since the Stockport star in 1936.
Roland Garros unveiled a metal sculpture in honour of Spanish superstar Rafa Nadal in 2021 before he won his record 14th French Open the following year.
Asked if Wimbledon should erect a monument to Murray, the BBC commentator said: “If I was making that decision, I would say absolutely, yes, because that’s a long drought, 77 years. He’s absolutely changed the way people look at British tennis. He’s one of the greatest competitors that I’ve ever seen play tennis. It would be well deserved, and it’d be awesome, because two of his three Grand Slam wins were at Wimbledon plus the Olympics. So that would seem to make a whole lot of sense.”
Wimbledon wants to wait to recognise Murray until after he announces his retirement – and has plans in place if he makes the decision during The Championships.
The Scot, 37, underwent spinal surgery at the weekend and is racing against time to get fit for a final appearance at SW19 next week.
Roger Federer has retired, Nadal is skipping Wimbledon to concentrate on the Olympics on clay while Novak Djokovic is also battling to get fit after his knee surgery. “It would be awesome if Murray could have one last hurrah,” said the American.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner added. “He was part of the Big Four and he finished 2016 as the best player in the world,” he said. “So it’s unfortunate that because of injuries, you don’t hear about him the same way he did before. It is like the Big Three now. And he could have won more majors obviously. So he’s still going to be considered one of the great players of his era.
“Obviously he’s going to be below those other guys but so was everyone else. So he’s had a tremendous career. Unfortunately, most careers don’t end the way you want them to. I don’t think that you can take away from the accomplishments.”
McEnroe took a sabbatical from tennis in 1986 to marry Tatum O’Neal before retiring in 1992. He made a brief comeback in 1994 and played the French Open mixed doubles with Steffi Graf in 1999. “I can relate to what Andy has been going through this year,” the American, 65, recalled.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk