Andy Murray to make Wimbledon decision on Friday

Andy Murray to make Wimbledon decision on Friday

Andy Murray expects to decide by Friday morning’s draw whether he will compete at Wimbledon.

The 31-year-old has played only three matches since his return from almost a year out, and suffered the second of two defeats on Wednesday afternoon when he lost 6-4 6-4 to Kyle Edmund at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

He has no plans to play an exhibition match in an attempt to prepare for his potential participation at the All England Club, and will instead base his decision on whether he believes he can do himself justice.

Asked if he will know by 10am on Friday, when the draw is made, Murray responded: “Yeah, probably. I’ll chat with my team in the next couple of days.

“Obviously see how I pull up again (on Thursday), but I don’t really anticipate any issues.

“With each match I’m trying to gain information about where I’m at physically and where my game is at.

“The matches have been helpful for that. The match against Nick (Kyrgios, last week) was a significantly longer match. (Against Edmund) was very different.

“I was reacting a lot on the court rather than being the one that was dictating on my own serve.

Andy Murray, left, embraces Kyle Edmund
Andy Murray, left, embraces Kyle Edmund (Steven Paston/PA)

“There is no risk of me playing tennis just now. It’s just whether I feel like I’m able to do myself justice. Two weeks ago I practised with Kyle and I didn’t win a game.

“So I have made decent improvements (over) the last couple of weeks and obviously have been somewhat competitive in the matches that I have played. But I don’t just want to go out there to just play. I want to be able to compete properly.

“If I don’t feel like I can do that, then I won’t play. If I do and physically I feel ready, mentally I’m in the right place, then I’ll go for it, but there’s no danger about me injuring my hip more than there would be at any other stage.”

“To beat him, it might seem strange but it shows I have improved a lot,” he said. “It’s not nice playing them, but it’s one of them where to have that definitely gives you a lot of confidence and belief.”

He next meets Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarter-finals, where he will be joined by Cameron Norrie, who after a 6-4 6-3 victory over fellow Briton Jay Clarke will face Lucas Lacko of Slovakia.

Johanna Konta was also eliminated, having lost 4-6 6-1 6-4 in the third round to Danish top seed Caroline Wozniacki.

In the doubles, she also lost alongside Hungary’s Timea Babos against Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu, but the 27-year-old said: “(My form’s) the best it’s been this year. I’m exactly where I should be (ahead of Wimbledon).”

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