If Andy Murray opts to announce his retirement midway through this year's Wimbledon Championships then the organisers have plans ready for the former champion.
Murray, 37, indicated in February that this might be his final appearance at SW19 before retiring. He has yet to make an official announcement, though, and hinted at a U-turn after recovering from injury to take part at this year's French Open.
“When the time is right, I will stop. I don’t know if I will play past the summer," he said before his Roland Garros Opener. He admitted he had started to enjoy his tennis again, something which hasn't always been the case in recent years.
Murray, who was beaten in straight sets by Stan Wawrinka in the first round in Paris, returned to the top 50 in time to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon. However, some disappointing recent results mean his ranking looks set to be considerably lower when he plays his first round match at SW19, and questions remain over how long he has left at the highest level.
“We’ve certainly got plans in place and we’re ready and prepared [If Murray sets a retirement date during the tournament]," Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton said. "It’s Andy’s decision and we’ll be led by him.
“We’ve got plans. They’re very adaptable. This is Andy’s call so we’ll very much be led by him. At the right point in time we’ll make those announcements.”
Murray is a two-time Wimbledon men's singles champion, beating Novak Djokovic in the 2013 final and overcoming Milos Raonic three years later. However, since reaching the quarter-finals the following year, he has not made it to the final eight of any grand slam and missed multiple competitions through injury.
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Addressing his future in May, Murray spoke candidly about some tough results. After losing to Wawrinka at Roland Garros, he suffered another first round defeat when he took on Marcos Giron at the Stuttgart Open.
“The results I have been having are not what I would want. But the mentality around whether it’s with my racquets and rehab or whatever, it’s always to try to get better," he said. "Is there anything that you can do that might help and influence some results or not? I have to wait to see whether it’s a good decision for me or not. It’s something that I wanted to see whether it could make a difference.
“I know they are different things but you wouldn’t get a golfer using the same clubs that they came out with 25 years ago. A Formula One car is not going to be the same today as it was 25 years ago. For some reason, tennis is a sport where players are always reluctant to change.
“I felt like now is the time to see whether it can make a difference. I felt like it was something I wanted to try. I don’t want to finish my career thinking: ‘Should I have given it a go to see whether or not that was something that could have potentially helped me’. I have really enjoyed it as well. That’s probably helped me a bit the last few weeks as well.”