Amelie Mauresmo says Andy Murray will retire from tennis as 'much more than just a sporting figure'

Paris: Andy Murray will leave the sport as more than just a sporting figure, the Briton’s former coach Amelie Mauresmo said on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_1584151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Andy Murray with former coach Amelie Mauresmo. Reuters[/caption] Murray, 31, said on Friday that this year’s Australian Open could be his last professional tournament, although the former World No 1 hopes he can bow out at his beloved Wimbledon. The three-time Grand Slam champion has emerged as a feminist figure in tennis, notably hiring Frenchwoman Mauresmo as his coach from 2014-16. “He is a champion reaching beyond his sport, especially by taking steps forward on the gender equality topic,” former World No 1 Mauresmo told French sports daily L’Equipe. “(Taking me as a coach) was not a PR thing. It was a profound conviction he had from his education, his open-mindedness. “He is not afraid of his own sensitiveness, on the contrary. To me, he has been undervalued as a man, not as a tennis player.” Murray broke down on Friday when he told a news conference that the severe pain from his troublesome right hip had become almost unbearable for him to play on.