Andy Murray: I am willing to risk rushing back from back surgery for Wimbledon farewell
Andy Murray says that he is willing to live with the risks associated with rushing back from spinal surgery in order to earn one last competitive appearance at Wimbledon.
Murray’s dream of bidding farewell to SW19 remains alive, but only just, after he hit a few balls on the practice courts of Aorangi Park for the first time since he had a cyst removed from his spine.
In his initial consultations ahead of his surgery, which was carried out eight days ago on June 22,, Murray was told that he should take six to 12 weeks off afterwards. If he plays on Tuesday, he will have waited just ten days before undertaking best-of-five-set singles tennis. It is quite the stretch, and he admitted as much on Saturday.
Asked about the six-to-12 week advice, Murray replied: “When you get surgeries done, generally you get multiple opinions. I wasn’t told that it was going to be ten days either, but... There’s risks associated with what I’m trying to do and I’m willing to take that to try and play.”
Murray put in a full hour on the courts at Aorangi – the designated practice area adjacent to the main body of the All England Club – but only spent perhaps 15 minutes actually striking the ball from the baseline. In the final part of the session, he asked his coaches to hit drop shots to him, and then lumbered up to the ball in a noticeably heavy-legged way.
“It was alright, considering,” Murray told reporters afterwards. “Obviously I haven’t done much for the last week… just trying to do what I can, trying to keep progressing each day. Whether there’s enough time or not, I don’t know, but I’m trying.”
Asked what he felt he needed to do in order to declare himself fit for Tuesday’s scheduled singles match against Tomas Machac, Murray replied “I need to be able to move properly, which I can’t yet, so let’s see in 48 hours or so. I don’t know – tough to know how it’s going to progress, really.”
In any other year, Murray would have withdrawn already, but these are special circumstances. He said on Thursday that he didn’t want his sad retirement from Queen’s Club, where he was forced to abandon his match against Jordan Thompson after five distinctly awkward games, to be his last outing as a professional tennis player.
At the same time, though, he has already discussed the likelihood that this will be his last summer with both his team and his family, and he wants to go on holiday after the Olympic Games in early August.
In all probability, then, there won’t be another chance to play at Wimbledon – the tournament where he ended a 77-year-wait for a British male champion in 2013, and where everyone expects that his statue will eventually join that of his predecessor Fred Perry as a landmark around the grounds.
Although Murray practised his serves and returns on Saturday as if he were preparing for singles, it seems more likely that he might end up settling for a doubles match on Thursday alongside his brother Jamie. Doubles tennis is less exhausting, and is only played over the best of three sets at Wimbledon.
Serving and returning is in fact at the heart of the doubles format, and Murray was doing both pretty smoothly on Saturday. It was when he had to move laterally, or turn and run back, that the evidence of his recent spinal surgery was all too obvious.
The way the rules of the Championships work, he can leave his decision on the singles until the last possible moment on Tuesday, because a lucky loser will be on hand to step in. The same goes for the doubles, as there are alternate pairs on site.
Despite Murray’s struggles, he was clearly enjoying his time with his team – coaches Jonny O’Mara and Mark Hilton, fitness trainer Matt Little and physio Shane Annun.
He even attempted a few sprint races with O’Mara, a 29-year-old former doubles player, coming off second best on each occasion. Even in a diminished state after his surgery, he knows that he should try to enjoy these moments while he can.
