Wimbledon not an aim
ANDY MURRAY insists he will not risk his comeback hopes by rushing back to play singles at Wimbledon.
But the Scot admitted playing doubles at his home Grand Slam this summer could be a “possible stepping stone” in his latest return from surgery.
The double Olympic champion spoke publicly for the first time yesterday since his second hip operation in January.
After tearfully announcing before the Australian Open he was facing retirement this summer, Murray is now pain-free and said: “If it’s possible, I’d certainly love to compete again.”
Murray, who hopes to start hitting balls again in four weeks, is now in a race against time to be fit to play again at SW19 in July.
“It’s possible I will play singles at Wimbledon but it is not an aim,” he said.
“My goal isn’t to be back playing tennis for Wimbledon. I would love to, of course. It is my favourite tournament to play.
“What happens next, I don’t know exactly. Nobody has had this operation and gone back to playing high-level singles before. Surely it makes sense for me to wait rather than being, ‘Okay, I need to rush back because it’s Wimbledon’ then screw things up and waste the last five, six months of rehab.
“I would hate to go on court at Wimbledon and for something bad to happen, or feel really apprehensive and for it to go really badly. I wouldn’t want that to happen.”
Murray, who is 32 in May, rated his chances of playing singles at Wimbledon at “less than 50 per cent” but added: “Doubles maybe. It’s a possible stepping stone to playing singles again.”
Murray said he was in daily contact with Bob Bryan, who had the same operation and played doubles at the Australian Open five-and-a-half months later.
“Maybe I can cut a little bit of time off that,” he added. ¬ÊMurray was speaking at Queen’s Club at the announcement of a new “long-term partnership” with Liverpool kit company Castore.