Throughout the years, a lot of controversies has been revolving around Andy Murray and his legitimacy as a Big Four member. Eventually, all the critics were shut up as Murray established himself as one of the relevant names of the ATP professional tour.
Having played 10 Grand Slam finals overall, he has won three of them with a career peak last year, especially in the second part of the season when he surpassed Djokovic as the No.1 in the world. Besides, only a few can brag about being knighted for their services to sports or another branch of activity and Murray did that as well.
At 30-years-old, his future as a top tennis player is sitting at a crossroad where some smart decisions must be made.
The injuries and the bad shape was a natural consequence
So far, the current season was mostly about getting a decent sense of fitness. Andy Murray has been struggling with an elbow injury from a few months ago and a hip injury that caused great pain at the Wimbledon Championships.
Aside from his huge achievements, Murray is merely flesh and bone the same as everyone else. Trying to maintain the pace of the previous season may now seem as a bad decision with some of his body parts reaching a low-bottom in terms of fitness and health. It's a common toll professional athletes are constantly paying.
The second part of 2016 saw Murray the playng gruelling battle. By the end of the season, he had nine titles in his pocket (eight from ATP and the Olympic Gold Medal in singles). And most of them were acquired after Wimbledon in what was the best chunk of his career to date.
It was a hellish schedule, especially during the autumn hard session with Murray roaming around the world in his attempt to surpass Novak Djokovic.
One by one, the ATP events on hard from Beijing, Vienna, Paris, Shanghai or London went into Murray's pocket making him the best male player of the season. That gold medal in Rio was the cherry on top. After all that struggle, a setback was something to expect.
Schedule adjustments and priorities shifting
Andy Murray got past the 30-years-old milestone and the same happened to Djokovic which means that all Big Four members are now in a new phase of their career.
It might be the moment to start assessing more carefully the implications of an extended schedule.
Traditionally, Murray is a guy who plays a lot. Some changes could be made with him focusing only on the big events. Moreover, he and his wife Kim are expecting a second child. A new member of his family may also influence his priorities in the years to come.
