Murray says query marks stay over health forward of return

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray admits there are question marks as to whether his body will hold up as he prepares to return to competition at the Queen’s Club.

Murray has struggled to return to his previous level since undergoing hip replacement surgery in January 2019 as gnawing injuries limited his tournament time.

He missed this year’s Australian Open after testing positive for COVID-19 and has not played a game since March but is back for the lawn swing that leads to Wimbledon.

“I feel okay. I don’t feel perfect, but I’ve been training pretty consistently for the past few months or so,” the 34-year-old Scot told reporters on Monday.

“I trained at Wimbledon and we’ve got out of here in the last few days and done some good exercises.

“The question mark, of course, is whether the body will hold up and I can’t say with great certainty whether that will happen or not.”

Murray will face Benoit Paire in his first match at Queen’s on Tuesday and although he has won the title five times in the traditional pre-Wimbledon event, he does not have high expectations, just hopes to be able to participate in the competitions.

“If my goal is to be number one in the world or to win majors, if that is the only reason I would keep playing

Tennis, which it isn’t, I would have stopped three or four years ago, “said Murray.

“The reason I still play is because I love to play tennis. I want to keep trying and I still have a desire to go out and compete and exercise every day to try and get myself improve and give me the chance to keep going. “

“Create more memories on the pitch and win more.”

When asked about his expectations for Wimbledon, the former world number one said he was staying healthy.

“Judging from what you see on social media, a lot of people no longer believe that I can play and compete at this level,” he said. “I don’t know what the expectations should be.

“I don’t want to make any promises about this because I don’t really know myself. Let’s see what happens, but my goal and priority is to be healthy.”

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