After spinal cyst surgery, Andy Murray’s retirement plan comes into sharp focus

After undergoing surgery for a spinal cyst on Saturday, three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray says he will wait until the last moment before deciding whether to play at Wimbledon this year – and gave an update on his retirement plans.

The 37-year-old was forced to retire from his match last week at the Queen’s Club Championships in London because of the back injury but is still set to appear in the draw for this year’s Wimbledon which starts July 1.

If Murray is unable to play singles, h e may still participate in the men’s doubles alongside his brother Jamie. The doubles tournament is due to start later in Wimbledon’s schedule.

“The rate that I’m improving just now, if that was to continue then an extra 72 to 96 hours makes a huge difference,” Murray said Thursday, according to Wimbledon, adding that he’s doing rehab around the clock in an effort to be fit.

“I’m going to wait until the last minute to see if I’m going to be able to and I’ve earned that right to do that.

“This is not clear cut whether I am 100% going to be ready to play or there is a 0% chance that I can play. That is the situation. I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now.

“Maybe this is just how it was meant to happen for me,” Murray added. “Getting to play with Jamie in the doubles is something that obviously I have never done before [at Wimbledon]. That can be special as well.”

Looking beyond Wimbledon, Murray is planning his retirement from the sport and says the Olympic Games in Paris could well be his last tournament.

He said that he wants to “go out playing a proper match” and wouldn’t rule out participating at other tournaments this season if he was unable to be competitive at Wimbledon and the Olympics.

However, he said he has no plans to compete at the US Open in New York, the final major of the year.

“I can’t say for sure that if I wasn’t able to play at Wimbledon, and I didn’t recover in time to play at the Olympics that I wouldn’t consider trying to play another tournament somewhere,” Murray said.

“But if I’m able to play at Wimbledon and if I’m able to play at the Olympics, that’s most likely going to be it.”

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