ANDY: I’M NOT WIMBLEDONE
Murray insists he has no plans to retire.. but admits his body could struggle to withstand demands of a return
ANDY MURRAY says he is unsure if his body will cope with his latest comeback on grass this summer.
But the downbeat former world No.1 revealed he has no plans to retire and still loves playing tennis.
The three-time Major champion starts his build-up to Wimbledon against Benoit Paire in the opening round of the cinch Championships today.
Murray, 34, has played only three ATP Tour-level matches this season because of Covid-19 and a groin injury and his last singles match was on March 3.
With Wimbledon starting on June 28, five-time Queen’s Club champion Murray said: “I feel OK. I don’t feel perfect.
“The question mark is obviously over whether the body holds up. And I can’t say with any great certainty whether that’s going to happen or not.
“I’ve been feeling good at different points over the last nine months and something has happened.
“I can’t say with any great certainty that it’s going to be ok. I hope I will be because my level is still good. But physically I need to hold up under playing matches, and it’s been extremely frustrating for me with all the different issues.”
Murray insisted he was “not that fussed” over who will win the greatest of all time race between the Big Three following Novak Djokovic’s French Open triumph.
And although he admitted he was “jealous” watching the epic semi-final between the Serb and
Rafa Nadal, the world No.124 said the astonishing level of tennis did not deter his return to action.
“It depends what my goal is,” said Murray. “If my goal is to get to No.1 in the world or to win Majors, if that’s the only reason why I would continue playing tennis, which it isn’t, because if it was then I would have stopped three, four years ago. “You can still do things on the court outside of winning slams or competing with those guys, which you can enjoy. “The reason why I’m still playing is because I love playing tennis.
“I want to keep playing as long as I can. I want to create more memories on the court and get more wins.”
Roger Federer, 39, who pulled out in Paris, won his first grass-court match of the year against Ilya Ivashka at the Halle Open yesterday.
“I wish everyone would encourage him to keep going and keep playing as long as he can, as long as his body can do it, because we’ll miss him when it’s over,” said Murray.
French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas has withdrawn from the Halle Open following the death of his grandmother on Sunday.