‘STILL BELIEVES’- MURRAY ON WINNING THE WIMBLEDON TITLE AGAIN DESPIT INJURY WOES.

Andy Murray says it will be “unbelievably difficult” to win Wimbledon for a third time following his 2013 and 2016 wins, but that the goal of doing so is his motivation to keep going in the sport. Murray has suffered a well-documented series of injuries in recent years, culminating in a 2019 operation to have a metal hip. He is expected to be fit for this year’s SW19 after an abdominal strain.

Andy Murray says his goal of winning Wimbledon for a third time is what is keeping him going in the game.

Murray took the SW19 title in both 2013 and 2016, but since 2017 he has been the victim of a series of injuries, most notably to do with his hip which ultimately required an operation to have a metal cap inserted.

It has been a long road for the Scot to get back to something approaching his best, but a run to the Stuttgart Open final – where he ran last year’s Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini close before being hampered by an abdomonal strain in the third set – has raised hopes that Murray could go deep again on the hallowed turf of south-west London.

“That [winning another Wimbledon title] is part of the motivation to still be out there competing,” Murray told Bloomberg.

“I know, obviously, that’s going to be an unbelievably difficult thing to do, but I do still believe that I’ve got great tennis in me.

“I know it’s going to be even harder to win Wimbledon than it was five, six years ago.

“But I still believe, and I’m still working and training as hard as I can to try and achieve that goal.”

With the Wimbledon draw set to be made on Friday, Murray looks likely to have recovered in time to take his spot in the event.

There has been plenty of comment surrounding the absence of Russian and Belarussian players in the draw following the All England Club’s decision to ban them following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Murray can see both sides of the argument.

He said: “Whether some tennis players are not able to play in an event or not, and whether there’s ranking points on offer, in the grand scheme of things, is kind of irrelevant.

“I know a few of the Russian players and I’m friends with them, and I feel for them that they’re not able to compete. I can appreciate that may seem unfair to them, but I can see Wimbledon’s side.

“It’s very complex, but at the end of it, there’s a war going on.”