For Murray it’s double or nothing now

At age 32, hip surgery allowed him to undo his retirement

WIMBLEDON, England — Clearly, Andy Murray’s tearful farewell to tennis was premature. So, too, was tennis’ farewell to Murray.

About five months since Murray discussed retirement because of pain in his surgically repaired hip — and everyone wished him well in any future endeavors — he is once again on tour thanks to a new operation. He’s also back at age 32 at Wimbledon, where he won singles championships in 2013 and 2016. He is, for now, entered only in men’s doubles but said Saturday he wants to find a mixed doubles partner, too.

“We’ve had a number of conversations with a few players,” three-time major champion said about finding a woman to play with, although he sidestepped questions about whether that could wind up being Serena Williams.

“I mean, obviously she’s arguably the best player ever,” he said, before deadpanning: “It would be a pretty solid partner.”

In January, Murray said at the Australian Open that he would need to quit the sport because of his hip. After a five-set loss there — his first openinground loss at a Grand Slam tournament in 11 years — Murray said: “If today was my last match, look, it was a brilliant way to finish.”

A video was shown there with tributes from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and others. The gist: “Congratulations on a great career. You’ll be missed.”

Except Murray decided soon thereafter to get an artificial hip. He teamed with Feliciano Lopez at Queen’s Club this month for the first test — and they left with the title. At Wimbledon, he will play with Pierre Hugues-Herbert.

Here are other things to know for Wimbledon, the year’s third Grand Slam tournament:

NADAL’S SEEDING: Nadal was not pleased that Wimbledon — unique to majors, it gives extra credit for results on its surface over the preceding two years — dropped him from No. 2 in the rankings to No. 3 in the seedings, swapping spots with Federer behind No. 1 Djokovic. Nadal blamed the ATP for not putting pressure on the All England Club to switch the way it determines seeds.

FAA: Everyone wants to try to figure out the sport’s next new star, and there are plenty who think it could be Felix Auger-Aliassime, an 18-yearold from Canada who is seeded 19th. There are two particularly important numbers associated with a guy many refer to by his initials, “FAA.” There’s 88, the ranking spots he’s climbed this year, from 109th to 21st. And there’s zero, his career victory total at Grand Slam tournaments.