Murray unsure about Wimbledon after comeback defeat

LONDON: Andy Murray was back at one of his favourite stomping grounds on Tuesday and while the resumption of his career ended in defeat by Nick Kyrgios, the Scot remained upbeat about his return from injury, if guarded about his Wimbledon participation.

The 31-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion had not played a competitive match since losing to Sam Querrey in last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals and opted to have right hip surgery five months ago.

His ranking has slipped to 156 but there were times during a compelling two hour 39 minute clash with Kyrgios in the first round of the Queen’s Club championships when it looked as though he had never been away.

Ultimately, however, he could not last the pace and Kyrgios buckled down after a torrid first set to win 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5.

He was clearly fatigued at the end and there was even the suggestion of a limp but Murray said that was only to be expected after such a long layoff.

“I’m a bit stiff. Just normal stuff that you would get after playing on a grasscourt for the first time in a while,” Murray told reporters.

“The longest I have practiced in the last year has been an hour and a half. I was on the court for significantly longer than that in a more intense environment. So I’m feeling decent, considering that.”

Questions quickly turned to Wimbledon which starts in less than two weeks. Murray would not say how he will prepare, or whether he would even take part.

Going straight into best-of-five set tennis with such little playing time would be difficult and Murray hinted he would play at next week’s Eastbourne event. Then again, he also raised the prospect of opting to miss Wimbledon altogether, depending on how his body reacts in the next few days.

“I won’t rule anything out. I won’t rule out playing Eastbourne and not playing Wimbledon,” Murray said.

“I’m not sure yet. I really haven’t played a whole lot of tennis, so I’m happy I got out there and competed and performed respectably.

“It’s something I need to speak to my team about. If I don’t feel good tomorrow, then that’s obviously not a great sign for bestof-five-set tennis.”