Murray on track for Wimbledon farewell
Scot to resume training after avoiding surgery on ankle French Open could be target before grass-court season
Andy Murray’s prospects of a satisfying Wimbledon finale have received a significant boost with the news that he will resume hitting in the next few days.
Murray ruptured two ankle ligaments in Miami three weeks ago, and has spent much of that time wearing a protective boot on his left foot. Crucially, though, he has avoided surgery, which would have necessitated a much longer lay-off.
According to a statement from his management agency IMG, Murray’s rehab has been progressing well, and has brought him close to the point where he can go back on the practice court.
There is still no projected date for his return to competition. But then, the ATP Tour has now moved on to the red-clay phase, which was always his least favourite part of the season.
One suspects that Murray, 36, will be keen to make one final appearance at next month’s French Open, where he reached the final in 2016, even if he is unlikely to go deep into the tournament. But his priority will surely be the grasscourt season. His winning ratio on grass is 82 per cent, as opposed to 75 on hard courts and 69 on clay. He is the only man to have won Queen’s five times and he also ended the 77-year wait for a home-grown male Wimbledon champion in 2013.
Soon after Murray had sustained his ankle injury, the prognosis was set out by Dr Daniel Fong, reader in sports medicine and biomechanics at Loughborough University.
“It could be a few months for surgical reconstruction of the ligaments,” Fong said, “or a few weeks for conservative treatments such as bracing, taping and exercise.”
Murray’s many admirers can be grateful that he has gone down the second path. An operation would probably have ruled him out of Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, which are both on his final-season wish list (even if he has admitted that he would skip the Olympics if he felt he had no chance of winning a medal).
In the immediate aftermath of the injury – but before he had realised its severity – Murray told reporters that he had come to terms with his imminent departure from the tour.
“I am looking forward to the end now,” Murray said, “giving my best for the next few months and then getting to be at home with my family.”