Andy Murray, his spirits lifted after winning the doubles title at Queen’s Club on Sunday, will return to Wimbledon next week with a spring in his step that has been missing since he last played there two years ago – and he says there is a chance he will play singles at the US Open in September.
After he and Feliciano López – who earlier secured the Queen’s Club singles title he previously won in 2017 – had beaten the Londoner Joe Salisbury and the American Rajeev Ram 7-6 (6), 5-7, 10-5 to win the Fever-Tree doubles title, Murray said: “If it happens in September or next year or in six weeks, I really don’t mind.
“I’m happy with playing tennis and training and having no pain any more. If I keep progressing, I would like to try to play singles. I have a couple of options after Wimbledon: either I continue with doubles but start training and practising singles through the US Open swing, and then try and maybe play singles after that. Or I take a longer break post-Wimbledon of maybe, let’s say, a month or six weeks to get myself ready for singles and then try and play close to the US Open time.
“I guess those would be the two options. I don’t anticipate it would be much longer than that. My schedule could potentially be a bit different. I might not play three weeks in a row or two weeks back to back, for example.
“But I’m just quite happy doing what I’m doing, taking each week as it comes. If things keep going well, I’ll try and play singles. If I start training and I think actually I’m not going to compete at a level I’m happy with, yeah.
“I know in Australia I didn’t anticipate playing doubles, but I also didn’t anticipate feeling like this and enjoying playing tennis like this, either. We’ll see what happens.”
Murray, who had his hip resurfaced in January and now plays with a metal insert, was alert, strong and confident. Transferring to singles, though, will be complicated.
He lost in five sets against Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of the Australian Open, and broke down in tears afterwards, resigned to quitting the game.
That he has managed to come back to this sort of level in five months is remarkable.
The former British No 1 Greg Rusedski said of the theatre that unfolded in fading light on Centre Court: “You couldn’t have scripted it any better. He’s our greatest sportsman of this generation, when fit.”
