THE lawns are being manicured, the Pimm’s is being put on ice. It won’t be long now until the action switches to the grass courts of Queen’s Club and Wimbledon and the temptation for a competitive animal like Andy Murray to return to the match court must be almost unbearable. Tim Henman, however, feels it is vital that his friend resists the urge until he is sure that his body is as near to 100% as possible. A further setback at this stage, six months after his hip surgery in Melbourne, and the best part of a year since his last competitive outing, the SW19 quarter final against Sam Querrey, really doesn’t bear thinking about.

“Unfortunately Andy’s season has been non-existent because he’s been injured,” said Henman, speaking ahead of the launch of new website and app deucetennis.com, an initiative also backed by Murray himself. “He’s had an incredibly tough time – to think that he hasn’t played since Wimbledon last year, did a lot of rehabilitation to avoid surgery but that didn’t have the impact or the outcome that he wanted.

“Then he’s had the surgery and we’ve got to keep our fingers crossed that he’s moving in the right direction and he can be back on the match-court sometime soon. His mentality goes without saying but unfortunately this is an area where it doesn’t matter what he thinks mentally, it’s all about his body. He’s got to make sure his body and his hip is 100 per cent, or as close as he can get to that, before he can really worry about competing. We know that the standard at the top level is so high, unless you are in peak physical condition it’s going to be very difficult to compete with the best players in the world.”

The 31-year-old, who decided against competing in hastily-arranged Challenger Tour events in both Glasgow and Loughborough, is entered into the Rosmalen tournament in Den Bosch, which gets under way on June 11. In his absence from the French Open, which gets under way at Roland Garros this week, much spotlight will fall upon Kyle Edmund, the man who has usurped him at the top of the British rankings, although Cam Norrie, a converted kilted kiwi whose father David hails from Scotland, has now gatecrashed the world’s top 100 too.

**Deuce is an initiative backed by Andy Murray designed to make it simple, fun and affordable to play more tennis. Visit www.deucetennis.com to find and book free, friendly coach-led sessions suitable for everyone and available at a location near you.