“Huge respect for Andy,” emails Thomas Harrington, “but after this defeat, he seriously needs to consider giving up competing in Grand Slams (with the exception of Wimbledon of course). To be struggling like this in a second-round match again is not good, the physicality of best of five sets in a Slam make it impossible for him to be competitive in this format now, and the damage it could do to his hip and surrounding area, who knows?
He needs to concentrate on best of three tournaments – he showed last week he can still compete and still be competitive, there are more tournaments for him to win still BUT only in ATP events, and he needs to start prioritising those events in order to prolong his career, I hope he does.”
You tell him! I’m sure he’s investigated how competing will affect his body, and my guess is he’s still enjoying it – I’m certainly enjoying watching him – and you’re a long time retired. When you’re that kind of competitor, I doubt you can get properly going unless it’s a major.