Andy Murray left wondering whether rehab would really be worth it after latest injury setback

The former world No 1 admits he is ‘finding it harder to get motivated’ for long comebacks after pulling out of the Miami Open.

Almost everything that happened before the pandemic automatically feels as though it happened on a different planet, centuries ago.

In the tennis world, we recently passed the second anniversary of Andy Murray’s “retirement”, when he choked back tears in a Melbourne press conference and admitted the Australian Open could be his last tournament.

“I want to get to Wimbledon and stop but I’m not certain I can do that,” Murray said, a heartbreaking admission of defeat in a career characterised by a relentless never-say-die attitude.

“I can’t be bothered doing another eight or ten weeks of rehab. The reason I am doing all of that stuff is to get back on the court and compete. That was why I was really gutted about missing [the Australian Open, after contracting Covid] because I had done so much work to get into the position to be ready for that off the back of the last few years.

“It’s hard work and now I am finding it harder to get motivated to do all the rehab and everything if I’m not going to be able to compete in the biggest events. That is why this one was like, ‘just give me a break for this one event so that I can compete against these guys at a big tournament and see what I am still able to do’.”

Just as it was when he “retired” in 2019, it is clear that the grass-court season, much as it is for Roger Federer in a similar position, is at the centre of Murray’s plans and potentially jeopardising his chances to play Wimbledon for what may be the last time is not something he wants to contemplate.

“If it had come from a match that I had played or something like that, I would get [people saying my body is not up to it], I would understand that. But it isn’t, this is just a random thing that hasn’t happened on the court or in the gym,” Murray added.

“I know as players get older, you can have issues with back spasms and things like that where you just wake up in the night and something has happened. I don’t know. Maybe it is just something like that.

“I really need to get a run of tournaments and competitive matches and stuff to see whether my body is capable of doing it or not because right now I still really haven’t had that opportunity.

All of the indications with the gym work and my practising and training and stuff that I’m doing suggests that I’m fine but then I keep getting these things.

“I don’t know how deep to look into this one. I guess if it keeps me out for a long time, then that’s something that I would probably think [that my body isn’t up to the rigours of top-level tennis].”