By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, May 21, 2019

 

Andy Murray has essentially ruled out a Wimbledon singles return in June, but says he could potentially play doubles at The Championships.

Photo credit: British Tennis

Andy Murray holds out hope he can play Wimbledon doubles next month—and eventually return to singles play.

Continuing his recovery from surgery to install a metal implant in his right hip, Murray has essentially ruled out a Wimbledon singles return in June, but says he could potentially play doubles at The Championships.

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In an interview with The Times' Stuart Fraser, the 32-year-old Murray said he hasn’t had enough time to fully rehab from his second hip surgery on January 29th, which makes a Wimbledon singles return highly unlikely.

“It's not enough time," Murray told The Times. "I'd say there's very little chance I'd play singles during the grass (season). "Potentially doubles, but I'm not trying to get ready for singles. I've only just started moving now."

Murray hit at Wimbledon with buddy Nick Kyrgios yesterday leading to speculation they could partner in Wimbledon doubles. Andy Murray partnered brother Jamie Murray in doubles leading Great Britain to the 2015 Davis Cup, but Jamie Murray said he has no plans to partner his brother at the grass-court Grand Slam in June.

The former world No. 1 made a valiant and emotional farewell falling to Roberto Bautista Agut in a gripping five-set thriller in the Australian Open first round on January 14th.

Afterward, Murray admitted he's in pain and said then he hoped to play Wimbledon as his farewell tournament.

Now, the three-time Grand Slam champion suggests he could extend his competitive career.

Given the fact he’s been pain-free since surgery and Bob Bryan, who underwent the same procedure last year and is back playing doubles with success, Murray said he’s confident he’ll be able to play doubles and hopes he can give singles a shot at some point, too.

“I know from seeing what Bob Bryan has done that for doubles it will be absolutely fine,” Murray told The Times. “I'll need to see from there how it would work singles-wise.

"If I continue to feel good then I will obviously give it a shot in singles and see what happens. In doubles I'm pretty certain I'll be able to play, just based on having an example to look at.

"The thing I said before was that, if I wasn't feeling good, there was more chance that I would play and then stop after Wimbledon. Whereas if it's feeling good, it makes a bit more sense to give it time to make sure that it's as good as possible before I try to play singles on it."



Murray has been monitoring Bob Bryan's progress and has spoken to the former world No. 1 doubles player several times about his experiences.

"I just represent an option for him," Bob Bryan said. "That guy does everything you can possibly do as far as training and rehab and he's talked to a million specialists. But I'm the only guy to be playing on tour with a metal hip.

"And so he's been watching me like a hawk. He's asking me how I'm feeling after matches after practices where I'm at, just trying to gauge how long it would take him (to come back)."