Andy Murray admits he is ‘at risk’ at Wimbledon after posting injury update

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Andy Murray admitted he is taking a “risk” by attempting to play at Wimbledon, just a week after undergoing surgery on his back. He said he still needs to see improvements in his movements if he wants to play in what is expected to be his final championships.

Murray, 37, faces Tomas Machac in the singles on Tuesday and made his debut on the Aorangi practice courts on Saturday afternoon. The two-time Wimbledon champion hit serves, returns, groundstrokes and did sprint drills in an hour-long session, but his movements were slow and heavy.

Murray confirmed that afterwards, admitting he didn’t know if he would be ready to compete on Tuesday as his match is scheduled for the evening. “I need to be able to move properly, which I can’t do yet, so let’s see in 48 hours or so,” Murray said. “I don’t know – hard to know how it’s going to go, really.”

The former world number 1 underwent surgery on a spinal cyst last weekend after withdrawing from his second round match at Queens, but is determined to give himself every chance of a final appearance at Wimbledon and is prepared to make a decision on whether he will play until as late as possible.

“It was OK, considering the circumstances,” Murray said after his training session. “Obviously I haven’t done much this past week… I’m just trying to do what I can, trying to make progress every day. Whether there’s enough time or not, I don’t know, but I’m trying.”

Murray has also taken a wildcard into the men’s doubles alongside his older brother Jamie Murray, which could give the three-time Grand Slam champion the chance to say goodbye to the Wimbledon crowd even if he has to withdraw from singles competition.

Murray is determined to play one last time at Wimbledon before returning, even though he admitted he is taking a gamble with his body by playing so soon after surgery. “There are risks involved with what I’m trying to do and I’m willing to take that to try to play. So yeah, we’ll see what happens.”

Murray will give a press conference on Sunday ahead of the start of the tournament. He was given an opening match against 23-year-old Czech Machac, who is ranked 38 in the world, and an extra day to recover from surgery on a spinal cyst after finishing in the bottom half of the singles draw.