Andy Murray has said that there is a chance he could return to singles competition before the start of the US Open next month.
The former world No.1 hasn’t played a singles match since his first round loss to Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open. Since then, Murray has undergone a second hip operation in a bid to save his career. Returning to action in June, the Brit has focused solely on doubles competition and won the Fever-Tree Championships with Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
Murray is in action this week at the Citi Open after teaming up with his brother Jamie. Making it the first time the two have played together since 2016. Speaking with reporters in Washington on Monday, the 32-year-old said he is close to returning to singles.
“In terms of how I’m moving and feeling and pulling up the next day from these practices, I’m really happy with where I’m at. I think I’m quite close,” he said. “If I was to play a tournament in a few weeks’ time, I could do it. But it’s just to get to maybe where I want to get to, I’ll need to play matches and get a little bit more work done in the gym on my cardio.”
In a best-case scenario, Murray could play in the upcoming Western and Southern Open. A tournament that will start on August 10th. He is a two-time champion in Cincinnati, but hasn’t won the title since 2011. As for the possibility of playing in the US Open, that may be too ambitious for the three-time grand slam champion at present. Who admits that his cardio ‘isn’t great.’
“It’s possible, yeah, best, best-case scenario,” Murray said. “Best-case scenario probably would be Cincinnati. And then if I wasn’t able to play in Cincinnati, there’s a good chance I would probably wait until after [the U.S. Open in] New York, because I wouldn’t want my first tournament, either, to be playing best-of-five [sets].”
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12 months ago Murray was in a somewhat different situation in Washington. Playing in only his third tournament since his first hip surgery in January 2018, he reached the quarter-finals before withdrawing due to fatigue. His third round match went on until 3am.
Reflecting on his performance at the tournament last year, Murray said he doesn’t know how he managed to get through his last 16 encounter.
“I actually saw the end of that match a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t walk. I was watching myself walk, and I was like ‘Wow’. It was really bad. I was struggling a lot. I don’t know how I really got through the match in the end. I was upset because my hip was really, really painful,” he reflected.
The Murray brothers will play their first round match on Tuesday against Wimbledon runners-up Nicolas Mahut and Édouard Roger-Vasselin.
Timeline of Murray’s latest comeback
- June 17-23: Played doubles in the Fever-Tree championships with Feliciano Lopez. Wins first doubles title since 2011.
- June 24-28: Teams up with Marcelo Melo to play in Eastbourne. The duo lost in the first round.
- July 4-14: Plays at Wimbledon for the first time since 2017. Reached the second round of the men’s doubles with Pierre-Hughes Herbert and the third round of the mixed doubles with Serena Williams.
- July 29th-August 4th: Will play at the Citi Open with brother Jamie.
- August 5-11: Set to play doubles at the Rogers Cup with Lopez.
