Andy Murray has commented on his improbable journey of playing at this year's Wimbledon, believing he's earned the right to make a last-minute call on his participation.
Murray intends to retire from professional tennis this summer and was expected to play his final Wimbledon at the start of next month. The grass-court major will begin precisely on July 1st.
The two-time Wimbledon champion suffered a massive setback in his preparation for the tournament when he was forced to abandon his second-round match at Queen's due to a back injury.
In the last few days, it was reported that he would undergo back surgery and, therefore, withdrew from Wimbledon. His mother, Judy, was far from impressed with the news reported on all major British outlets and slammed The Telegraph for sharing confidential media details of her son.
The 37-year-old former World No. 1 underwent back surgery last Saturday and has since spoken to the Guadian to update the tennis community on his rehabilitation period, which he termed "complicated," although he is delighted with the progress he is making.
"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."
The draw ceremony will take place on Friday, June 28th. An early withdrawal is often seen as a demonstration of sportsmanship and goodwill, as it will open up a main draw spot for one of the players on the alternates list.
Murray understands that, but he explained that given that this will be his last Wimbledon, he would make a late decision on whether to play, even if it is after the draw.
"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 or something like that isn’t the right thing to do, even though it happens every single week on the tour."
"The winner of Queen’s will pull out of Eastbourne when the draw has been done and is clearly totally fit. 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."