Andy Murray had spinal surgery last weekend but still hopes to play Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics before he hangs up his racket.
The 37-year-old three-time Grand Slam winner from Great Britain had a procedure Saturday to address a spinal cyst, which typically includes a six-week recovery time.
The Wimbledon draw is Friday and competition at the All-England Club begins on July 1.
“… If I’m able to play at Wimbledon and if I’m able to play at the Olympics, that’s most likely going to be it, yeah,” Murray said Thursday.
Murray, who won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, said he will wait until the last possible moment to decide if he is fit to compete in London.
“The rate that I’m improving just now, if that was to continue, then an extra 72 to 96 hours makes a huge difference. It’s complicated, and it’s made more complicated because I want to play at Wimbledon one more time,” Murray said, per ESPN.
“I want to have that opportunity to play the tournament, and I know that some people might look at that and say: ‘Withdrawing from a tournament late at the last minute isn’t the right thing to do.’ But I feel like I deserve the opportunity to try to play there again. And I want to have that opportunity, so I’m going to give it as long as I can to see how well I recover.”
The men’s tennis event in Paris begins on July 27 at Roland Garros. Murray won gold medals in singles at the London Games in 2012 and the Rio Games in 2016.
Murray confirmed Thursday that the plan is to retire after the Olympics.
“All of the discussions and conversations that I’ve had with my team are that I’m not going to play past this summer,” he said. “Obviously I’ve had the conversation with my family, and I have a family holiday booked the week after the Olympics.”
He left the door open to possibly compete at the U.S. Open if he is not able to compete at Wimbledon or Paris, saying he didn’t want his final match to be his mid-match retirement against Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the second round at Queen’s Club earlier this month.
“Because of what I put into the sport over the last however many years, I would at least like to go out playing a proper match where I’m at least competitive, not what happened at Queen’s,” he said.
Murray has faced many injury issues during his stellar career. He underwent hip surgeries in both 2018 and 2019 with the latter one involving a transplant that allowed him to continue his career.
–Field Level Media
