Andy Murray's Last-Ditch Wimbledon Decision: A Battle Against Time

Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, recovering from back surgery, is still undecided about his participation in the 2023 Wimbledon tournament. Although the ATP prematurely announced his withdrawal, Murray plans to make a last-minute decision. Facing the risk of playing despite recent health setbacks, he hopes to properly conclude his career.

Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has resumed training after back surgery in the lead-up to the grasscourt Grand Slam but the 37-year-old said on Thursday that he would take as much time as possible before deciding on his participation.

Men's governing body the ATP announced on Sunday in a since deleted social media post that Murray would miss the tournament but Britain's Davis Cup captain Leon Smith said no decision had been made. "I'm going to wait until the last minute to see if I'm going to be able to play and I've earned the right to do that," Murray said in quotes shared by his management team.

"This isn't clearcut where I'm 100% going to be ready to play or there's a 0% chance I can play. That's the situation. I would say it's probably more likely that I'm not able to play singles right now." Murray, twice Wimbledon singles champion, hopes to play doubles with his brother Jamie at the All England Club.

Following a victory over Alexei Popyrin at the Queen's Club Championships in his 1,000th tour-level singles contest, Murray withdrew due to injury when he trailed 4-1 in the opening set of his second-round match against Jordan Thompson last week. SPINAL CYST

Murray was diagnosed as having a spinal cyst and said he was told to have surgery immediately. "I was given multiple different timelines for how long (recovery) would take and was also made aware that if I decided to try to play Wimbledon there's some risk associated with that," Murray added.

"It's whether or not I'm willing to take that risk. But also even with there potentially being a risk, I've had the operation and it has gone really well." Murray resurrected his career after having hip-resurfacing surgery in 2019 but has struggled to go deep in top tournaments and recently had to deal with an ankle injury sustained at the Miami Open in March.

The Scottish double Olympic gold medallist previously said he was unlikely to continue playing next season and it would be a fitting end to his glittering career if he bowed out at the All England Club or the Paris Games. "All of the discussions and conversations I've had with my team are that I'm not going to play past this summer. Obviously I've had the conversation with my family," Murray said.

"I have a family holiday booked the week after the Olympics. I'm not planning on going over to New York (for the U.S. Open). But then I also don't want the last time that I played on a tennis court to be what happened at Queen's either. "I know there's more important things in the world than how I finish playing my last match or where I finished playing my last match.

"But because of what I put into the sport over the last however many years, I'd at least like to go out playing a proper match where I'm at least competitive, not what happened at Queen's." Wimbledon begins on Monday and the Olympic tennis competition starts on July 27.

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