Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray still had not decided as of Thursday whether he will be able to compete at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament that begins next week but his management company said “he is working towards that.”
The 37-year-old Murray has indicated this is likely to be his last season on tour before retirement. He has been dealing with a series of injuries in 2024, and had a surgical procedure on his back over the weekend after stopping during a match at a tuneup event.
“Andy is recovering well from his surgery and has started training again,” Murray’s representatives said in a statement issued on Thursday. “At this stage it is too soon to confirm for definite whether he will play Wimbledon, but he is working towards that and a final decision will be made as late as possible to give him the best chance of competing.”
Play at the All England Club begins on Monday. The draw to determine the singles brackets is on Friday.
Murray had planned to compete at Wimbledon and then the Paris Olympics, which start tennis competition at Roland Garros on July 27.
But Murray stopped playing in the first set of his second-round match at Queen’s Club last week because of back pain.
The Scot owns a total of three major championships: He won the U.S. Open in 2012, and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. His 2013 title made him the first British man to win the singles trophy at the All England Club in 77 years.
He also is the only player with two consecutive tennis gold medals in singles at the Olympics. He won at London in 2012 — when the sport’s Summer Games matches were held at the All England Club — and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Murray underwent a pair of hip operations in 2018 and 2019. While he thought he would need to retire after the second surgery, in which he received a metal hip implant, Murray eventually returned to action.
He has since been hampered by various injuries, including tearing ligaments in his left ankle at the Miami Open in March.
Murray lost in the first round of the French Open in May.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com