Andy Murray admitted he is taking a “risk” by attempting to play at Wimbledon just a week after undergoing an operation on his back, and said he still needs to see improvements with his movement if he is to feature at what are expected to be his final Championships.
Murray, 37, is scheduled to face Tomas Machac in the singles on Tuesday and made his first appearance at the Aorangi practice courts on Saturday afternoon. The two-time Wimbledon champion hit serves, returns, groundstrokes and did sprinting drills in a session that lasted an hour but his movement was slow and heavy.
Murray confirmed as much afterwards and admitted he did not know if he will be ready to compete by Tuesday, with his match set to be scheduled in the evening. “I need to be able to move properly, which I can’t yet, so let’s see in 48 hours or so,” Murray said. “I don’t know - tough to know how it’s going to progress, really.”
The former World No 1 had an operation on a spinal cyst last weekend after retiring from his second-round match at Queens, but is determined to give himself every chance of making a final appearance at Wimbledon and is prepared to leave a decision on whether he will play until as late as possible.
“It was alright, considering,” Murray said after his practice session. “Obviously I haven’t done much for the last week… just trying to do what I can, trying to keep progressing each day. Whether there’s enough time or not, I don’t know, but I’m trying.”
Murray has also taken a wildcard for the men’s doubles alongside his older brother Jamie Murray, which may provide the three-time grand slam champion an opportunity to wave goodbye to the Wimbledon crowd even if he is forced to withdraw from the singles competition.
Murray is determined to play at Wimbledon for one last time before retiring even as he admitted he is taking a gamble with his body by playing so soon after surgery. “There’s risks associated with what I’m trying to do and I’m willing to take that to try and play. So yeah, we’ll see what happens.”
Murray will give a press conference on Sunday ahead of the start of the tournament. He was handed an opening match against the 23-year-old Czech Machac, ranked 38 in the world, as well as an extra day to recover from surgery on a spinal cyst after landing in the bottom half of the singles draw.
