"You can't tarnish a legacy built on hard work" - Andy Murray's former coach jumps to his defense amid retirement speculation due to poor form

Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey is the latest person from the tennis fraternity to come out in support of his compatriot, who has been at the receiving end of some flak due to his recent poor form.

Petchey is a tennis commentator and analyst who is also a former professional tennis player. He won three Challenger titles during his career, and also a doubles title at the 1996 Nottingham Open.

There has been a lot of ongoing speculation about Murray's retirement due to his recent poor form. But a lot of people have also come out in support of the Brit, the latest one being his former coach Mark Petchey who took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his opinion.

"You can’t tarnish a legacy that’s built on utter hard work, giving every ounce of yourself and turning over every stone to beat some of the greatest players ever to pick up a racquet. A legacy that will be etched into the Hall of Fame and famed for unquenchable desire to win," Petchey tweeted.

He added that Murray did not need to worry about ruining his legacy because he was already an established winner.

"When you are the patron saint of lost causes in tennis matches and emerge a winner, you don’t have to worry about your legacy. Multiple grand slam winners, double Olympic gold medalists and Davis Cup winners don’t have to worry about their legacies. Others do though," Petchey added.

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A look at Andy Murray's illustrious career

Andy Murray with the 2016 Wimbledon title

Andy Murray is a British professional tennis player who was part of the Big 4 group alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, which dominated men's tennis for a long time.

Murray is a three-time Grand Slam champion, winning Wimbledon twice in 2013 and 2016, and the US Open in 2012. An 11-time Slam finalist, having made it to the finals of all four Grand Slams, the Brit was ranked World No. 1 for 41 weeks.

Andy Murray has won 46 ATP Tour titles in his career so far, including 14 Masters 1000 and the Nitto ATP Finals, the latter of which he won in 2016. He has also won two Olympic gold medals - at the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics - besides leading Great Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015.