Andy Murray has said he still intends to play at Wimbledon despite admitting that the abdominal strain he suffered in Stuttgart nine days ago has left him unable to practice all of his shots.
Providing his first update since withdrawing from last week’s Queen’s Club Championships, the three-times grand-slam winner offered both good and bad news for his many supporters after three days of training sessions at the All England Club with his coach, Ivan Lendl.
“I’m feeling better than I was on the Sunday evening [in Stuttgart],” Murray, 35, said. “With the nature of the injury, it’s not stopped me from practising. I’ve been able to do a lot of work on the court, but there’s specific shots I have not been able to practise and that has obviously hampered the preparations. In the next couple of days, I’ll have to start to increase that and test it to see where it’s at.
“Obviously the plan is still to play. The injury that I had is improving. I’ve had it rescanned since then and it’s progressing in the right way.
Murray declined to reveal exactly which areas of his game are off limits at the moment, but it can be safely assumed that his serve will be one issue. Towards the end of his defeat by Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the Stuttgart final, he was unable to hit his serves at full power and was rolling them in at 80mph, which is about 40mph lower than usual.
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It is a great shame for Murray that his preparations have been badly affected after finally overcoming his hip problems. Before this latest physical issue he looked in good form, reaching the semi-finals of the Surbiton Challenger before his Stuttgart display. Grass courts are considered to be where he has the best chance of another deep run at a grand slam, but he will clearly now be undercooked in some areas.
“It’s frustrating but I played nine matches in two weeks, which I haven’t done since 2016,” Murray said. “My game was obviously in a good place physically. I was feeling good. I felt like I was moving. Everyone that I trust and respect in terms of their opinions on my game and my movement were very happy with how that side of things was going and progressing.
“It’s frustrating to be in this position in the build-up to Wimbledon, but the positive for me is I’ve dealt with certainly worse issues in the last few years and handled them OK.”
Andy Murray will wear the Championship Collection from his signature AMC range at Wimbledon 2022. View the kit at www.castore.com/collections/amc
Four Britons with sights set on SW19
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Aidan McHugh (Glasgow)
Age: 21 Ranking: No 353
McHugh’s progress has been closely monitored since 2017 when he signed with 77 Sports Management, Andy Murray’s company. He sometimes hits with his mentor, the three-times grand-slam singles champion. His effortless one-handed backhand was on full display during a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Gonzalo Lama, the world No 250 from Chile, yesterday, but a tougher test awaits against the former top-20 player, Italy’s Andreas Seppi, tomorrow.
Arthur Fery (Wimbledon)
Age: 19 Ranking: No 692
Fery was a decent junior, reaching a world ranking of No 12 in 2020, and has impressed on the American college circuit for the University of Stanford. After coming to within one set of the Wimbledon main draw last year, he made a fine start to his latest campaign by defeating Thomas Fabbiano, the world No 174 from Italy, 6-4, 6-2 yesterday. Fery has French parents — his mother, Olivia, is a former top-250 player and his father, Loïc, is president of the Ligue 1 football club Lorient.
Maia Lumsden (Glasgow)
Age: 24 Ranking: No 667
Lumsden had reached a career-high world ranking of No 250 in 2019 before she was absent from the tour for a year and a half, after long Covid left her struggling to get out of bed and walk. She only returned to the tour last month and has been drawn against Kathinka von Deichmann, the world No 183 from Liechtenstein, in her opening qualifier today.
Mingge Xu (Swansea)
Age: 14 Ranking: No 1,147
Xu, whose nickname is “Mimi”, secured a qualifying wild card by winning the junior national championships in April, an impressive achievement for someone four years below the age limit. She has a strong presence on the court, with powerful groundstrokes to trouble more experienced opponents. It will be a tough ask for her to come through three matches this week — the first is against Hanna Chang, the world No 269 from the United States, today — but her time will come.
