ANDY Murray insisted last night there is no reason why he can’t mix it again with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal for the major titles in tennis.
Three tournaments in, the 32-year-old is feeling emboldened by his remarkable recovery from the hip resurfacing procedure he underwent in January – even though he has so far limited himself to action on the doubles court.
One of the lessons of the first week at Wimbledon is that these three all-time greats of the game, who have claimed a remarkable 53 Grand Slam titles between them, are still the men to beat.
But having overcome them in the past to claim three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals and become World No 1 at the end of 2016, the Scot doesn’t see why he can’t do it again. It seems more likely with each passing day that he may put his body to the test with a return to singles action before the US Open.
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“I don’t feel that the game has moved on and I won’t be able to get back,” said Murray. “A lot of the same guys are still there.
“So why not? If someone can give me a reason why I shouldn’t be able to compete again, then I would listen to it, but so far I haven’t really been given one.
“I know how bad I felt in Australia [his first-round defeat to Roberto Bautista Agut at the Aussie Open] and how bad I felt the last year that I played singles here [2017, where he made the quarter-finals], and I feel better now than I did then.
“So if physically I can get back to a good level, my tennis is still fine. I’m sure that tennis wise I will be able to keep up with the guys.”
The Scot would only be human if his mind was starting to wander towards the notion of testing himself in singles again, but for now he is adjusting to the life of a doubles player. As was the case on Friday, when he hung around all day waiting for his first-round mixed doubles match to be given a court, only for it to be postponed for 24 hours at the last minute, it is an existence which comes with certain frustrations.
Scheduled to play his second round mixed doubles match with Serena Williams on Tuesday, the logjam should at least be lessened after his quest to land the men’s doubles title with Pierre Hugues Herbert perished yesterday.
“I knew that [a lot of late nights] was going to be the case,” said the Scot. “I think both me and Serena would have liked to go out there on Friday and play the mixed. I don’t care which court we play on, I’m happy to play on whatever court, 14 or 18 doesn’t bother me.
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“Sometimes doubles does get pushed back and it’s not always the first event on the schedule, so you have to expect that to happen,” he added. “It was the same thing at Queen’s, long days and stuff. Hopefully next week will be a bit smoother.”
“It’s just different, singles and doubles,” he added. “There is a lot more self-analysis in singles. It’s your responsibility.
“The thing that is nice with doubles is that when you win, you are winning with someone else and it is enjoyable. When me and Feli [Lopez] won at Queen’s, we went out and bonded with each other, had dinner and that sort of stuff.
“In singles at the end of matches it is on you and that is the thing I’ve always had that is kind of different to doubles really. At Queen’s, for example, we won the end of that final because of Feli, he played brilliant at the end of the match. So it is difficult to know how responsible you were for certain things. That’s the thing that is different about it that I am not used to as much.”
At least one of the side effects of so many late finishes is that he has a good excuse to miss Love Island, the TV reality show which the Scot mentioned was a guilty pleasure of his a few years back.
“No, I hate that show – I haven’t watched one minute of it,” Andy recalled. “I watched it last year or a couple of years ago. It’s more my wife who would watch it. When it’s on, it’s on in the background.”
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