Murray looks set to line up at SW19
TWO-TIME champion Andy Murray says he is “most likely” to play Wimbledon next week as he continues his comeback from almost a year out with a hip injury.
Murray, 31, has been drawn against Frenchman Benoit Paire in the first round of the Championships, which start on Monday.
British number one Kyle Edmund opens against Australia’s Alex Bolt, while Cameron Norrie, whose mother Helen hails from Cardiff, is up against Aljaz Bedene.
Defending men’s champion and number-one seed Roger Federer faces Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, while French Open champion Rafael Nadal will take on Dudi Sela of Israel.
Murray said after his loss to compatriot Edmund at Eastbourne on Wednesday that he would only play at the All England Club if he knew he could compete.
“I feel all right, not much different to a couple of days ago,” he said after practising yesterday.
“I will see how the next couple of days go. I’m playing sets on Saturday, but most likely I’ll be playing.
“I need to play it a little bit by ear, I can’t predict how I will feel in two days.
“If I feel like I do today in a couple of days then I’ll be playing.”
He missed Wimbledon in 2007 with a wrist injury but has played every year since, and has reached at least the quarter-finals each time.
The Scot’s last competitive match in 2017 came at Wimbledon - where he was the defending champion – and ended in a fiveset defeat by American Sam Querrey in the last eight.
Murray had hip surgery in January and made his return at Queen’s, losing in three sets to 19th-ranked Australian Nick Kyrgios.
He registered his first victory a week later, beating Wawrinka at Eastbourne, before losing in the second round to Edmund.
Murray is in the bottom half of the draw, meaning he will play on Tuesday – the same day as England’s football World Cup last-16 tie against Colombia.
The Scot beat Paire in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year.
Paire, ranked 48th in the world, came within a point of beating Federer at the Halle Open last week.
In the women’s singles, Johanna Konta – who reached the semi-finals in 2017 –plays Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
Seven-time champion Serena Williams, who has been seeded 25th following her return from maternity leave, plays Arantxa Rus while 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza will face Britain’s Naomi Broady.