Andy Murray offers mixed update on Wimbledon plans after spinal surgery

Andy Murray has had surgery ona spinal cyst just days before Wimbledon (PA Wire)

Andy Murray remains hopeful of playing at Wimbledon but admits it is unlikely to be in singles.

The 37-year-old, who confirmed he is planning for the Olympics in Paris to be the final event of his career, had surgery on a spinal cyst on Saturday after experiencing weakness in his right leg during a second-round match against Jordan Thompson at Queen’s Club.

Murray called it a day after only five games and revealed he had no choice but to go under the knife.

“Obviously the last week’s been pretty tough,” said the Scot. “There’s obviously a lot going on with me planning on finishing at the Olympics.

“When I had the injury at Queen’s and then had the subsequent scans and doctor’s appointments, it was a pretty difficult situation to be in. I was told I had to have the surgery immediately by multiple surgeons because of the nature of the problem.

“I had a pretty decent-sized cyst on my spinal cord, which had been seen on a scan post-French Open, but it was pretty small and it grew significantly in size over the next two to three weeks.

“Although the surgery is not a major surgery, the problem was a serious problem because, if the cyst continues to grow – obviously at Queen’s I basically lost the strength, coordination and everything in my right leg on my way to the court – you’re likely to have other complications as well.

“Obviously I couldn’t risk that because I was struggling to walk properly because my nerves were getting really compressed. So I had to have the operation, but I was also given multiple different timelines for how long that would take.

“And also was made aware that, if I decided to try to play Wimbledon, there’s some risk associated with that and it’s whether or not I’m willing to take on that risk.

“The operation has gone really, really well and I’m recovering really well. I hit some balls yesterday. I’m not in much pain at all, but the nature of nerve injuries is that they’re quite slow to recover.

“I don’t know exactly how long it’s going to take for the nerve to get to a stage where I’m able to compete or play, whether that’s three days or whether it’s three weeks or five weeks. It’s impossible to say.”

The draw for the singles is on Friday morning, with matches starting on Monday, and Murray is happy to give himself as much time as he can to make the decision.

He is also entered into the doubles with brother Jamie for the first time, and that currently appears the most likely avenue for him to make a final appearance at Wimbledon.

“Maybe it’s my ego getting in the way but I feel that I deserve the opportunity to give it until the very last moment to make that decision,” he said. “It’s complicated, and it’s made more complicated because I want to play at Wimbledon one more time.

“I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now. I spoke to my brother a couple of days ago in terms of the doubles to see if he wants to find someone else to play with, and I was obviously absolutely fine with that. But he also wants the opportunity to try to play. We’ll see how the next few days go.

“I certainly couldn’t be preparing for Wimbledon in a worse way. But maybe this is just how it was meant to happen for me.”

Olympic entries will be confirmed next week, with Murray hoping to play singles and doubles with Dan Evans. But there is also an injury doubt around Evans, who suffered a knee injury after slipping and falling at Queen’s.

Should Murray not make the Olympics, he revealed he could yet play another event, such as the US Open, in order to bow out on his own terms.

“I have a family holiday booked the week after the Olympics,” he said. “I’m not planning on going over to New York. But then I also don’t want the last time that I played on a tennis court to be what happened at Queen’s either.

“I know that there’s more important things in the world than how I finish playing my last tennis match or where I finished playing my last tennis match.

“But, because of what I put into the sport over the last however many years, I would at least like to go out playing a proper match where I’m at least competitive.”