Andy Murray admits he is ‘unlikely’ to play Wimbledon singles but does not want to end career at Queen’s
Andy Murray is a two-time Wimbledon champion but is battling to be fit for his swansong this summer - Getty Images/Sebastein Bozon
Andy Murray has said that he is unlikely to play singles at Wimbledon next week, but hopes to compete alongside brother Jamie in the men’s doubles event, because “I don’t want the last time that I played on a tennis court to be what happened at Queen’s.”
In a detailed briefing about the state of his back, Murray admitted that he will be taking a risk if he decides to play. As revealed by Telegraph Sport, he underwent an operation on a spinal cyst last Saturday. And while he started hitting a few balls again on Wednesday, that still only leaves him four or five days to get ready for the start of the Championships.
Even so Murray is desperate to sign off from tennis on his own terms. This was something that he couldn’t do at Queen’s Club a week ago, because the nerve issue in his right leg forced him to retire after five uncomfortable games against Jordan Thompson.
Yet he also admitted that he would have to weigh up the risks of competing so soon after spinal surgery. These are not insignificant.
“I had a decent-sized cyst on my spinal cord which had been seen on a scan post French Open,” Murray explained. “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 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. 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 gonna 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. And I guess I’m in a pretty difficult position because I’m recovering really well each day, I’m progressing really well, but I don’t know how I’m gonna wake up tomorrow and how quickly my nerve is going to recover because it’s not the same as injuring a muscle or tearing a muscle. Everyone’s going to be a little bit different in this respect, so it’s really hard to say.”
The most likely route to an on-court swansong involves Murray playing doubles with his brother Jamie. The doubles start on Wednesday or Thursday next week, thus offering two or three days’ extra recovery time than the singles, which begin on Monday and Tuesday.
The physical requirements of the format are also far less gruelling. Doubles players have only half as much court to cover and half as many serves to hit – and the serve is likely to be an area of concern for a man recovering from surgery. Rallies tend to last no more than two or three shots, with the point rarely extending beyond the first volley.
‘I certainly couldn’t be preparing for Wimbledon in a worse way’
“I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now,” Murray said. “I’m also f------ doing rehab 24/7 to try to give myself that opportunity to play there again. The rate that I’m improving just now, if that was to continue then an extra 72 to 96 hours makes a huge difference.
“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. But yeah obviously it’s been a tough, tough couple of weeks now. And I just hope that these next few days go well and keep progressing and I get the opportunity to play there again.”
Murray is still entered into both singles and doubles events, but if he pulls out of the singles between Friday’s draw and next week’s first-round matches, a so-called “lucky loser” can be recruited from this week’s qualifying tournament. In other words, someone who lost in the final round of qualifying. This is sometimes frowned upon, but Murray argues that he deserves special consideration.
“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,” said Murray, who also said that he still has the doubles event at the Olympic Games in his sights.
“All of the discussions and conversations that I’ve had with my team are that I’m not going to play past this summer. Obviously I’ve had the conversation with my family. and I have a family holiday booked the week after the Olympics. I’m not planning on going over to New York.
“I know that there’s more important things in the world than how or where I finish 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, not what happened at Queen’s. So 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.”
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