British tennis star Andy Murray will leave his decision to play Wimbledon as late as possible as he recovers from surgery through intensive rehab.
The former World No1 and Wimbledon champion is expected to retire from the sport this year, meaning an appearance at the All England Club is likely to be his last as an active player.
He was forced to undergo surgery on his back after pulling out of the Cinch Championships at Queen’s Club last week and is in a race to be fit for Wimbledon. The singles draw takes place on Friday.
Ego
“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,” Murray said this morning. “If I was to be playing on Monday, I may know on Sunday there’s no chance that I can play.
“If I’m not able to play singles, I don’t know exactly when the first round doubles matches start, but there’s a difference with how I’m recovering to play on a Monday as opposed to playing on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
“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. 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, and again 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 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.”
Glittering Murray career
Murray’s glittering career catapulted him into tennis stardom, becoming the chief Briton going for Grand Slams.
He won the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in both 2013 and 2016.
He also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2012 and 2016.
There is a wildcard spot open at Wimbledon for him and his brother Jamie to compete in the doubles.
“I’m going to wait until the last minute to see if I’m going to be able to and I’ve earned that right to do that,” Murray added.
“This is not clear cut where I am 100 per cent going to be ready to play or there is a 0 per cent chance that I can play. That is the situation.
“”I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now. I’m also fucking doing rehab 24/7 to try to give myself that opportunity to play there again.”