Andy Murray aiming to play Wimbledon; reveals retirement plan
Andy Murray aiming to play Wimbledon; reveals retirement plan
ByTOM HAMILTON
June 27, 2024, 7:59 AM
Andy Murray said he is still hopeful of playing at Wimbledon just days after having spinal surgery and confirmed that if he is fit to play there and at the Paris Olympics, then he is likely to retire from tennis.
Murray, 37, underwent a procedure to address a spinal cyst on June 22 -- surgery that usually comes with a six-week recovery period. With Wimbledon starting on July 1, Murray is still hopeful of making a miracle return for the championships. However, he said there is a greater chance his participation may be in doubles alongside his brother, Jamie.
The draw for Wimbledon takes place on Friday, and Murray -- who has won the men's singles title twice -- said he will leave it until the last minute to make a call on whether he's fit or not for the tournament.
"I feel that I deserve the opportunity to give it until the very last moment to make that decision," Murray said on Thursday. "If I was to be playing on Monday, I may know on Sunday there's no chance that I can play. But also if it is progressing ... I'm on the court yesterday and I'm able to go on the court and move around more today and start to do more sort of tennis movements and stuff, I'm not necessarily going to know how that's going to change over the next 48 to 72 hours."
Doubles presents an alternative option for Murray if he is unable to play singles, as it starts later in the Wimbledon schedule.
"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, not what happened at Queen's.
"I can't say for sure that if I wasn't able to play at Wimbledon, and I didn't recover in time to play at the Olympics that I wouldn't consider trying to play another tournament somewhere. But if I'm able to play at Wimbledon and if I'm able to play at the Olympics, that's most likely going to be it, yeah."
Murray first knew of the cyst after the French Open. It was "pretty small, and it grew significantly in size over the next two to three weeks," he said. After winning in the first round of Queen's, Murray was then forced to withdraw from the second round on June 19 after experiencing a loss of coordination, and shooting pains in his back and down his right leg. He then sought several opinions from surgeons, but they all came back telling him he needed a procedure.
"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," Murray said.
"Obviously I couldn't risk that or allow that to happen 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 that there's some risk associated with that, and it's whether or not I'm willing to take on that risk.
"But also even with there potentially being a risk, I've obviously had the operation, the operation has gone really, really well and I'm recovering really well. I hit some balls yesterday [Wednesday]. I'm not in much pain at all, but the nature of nerve injuries is that they're quite slow to recover.
"I wish that I was able to go into Wimbledon this year with a proper grass season under my belt and well prepared and ready to 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. Getting to play with Jamie in the doubles is something that obviously I have never done before. That can be special as well."