ANDY MURRAY AWARDED A LATE WIMBLEDON WILDCARD TO PLAY DOUBLES ALONGSIDE HIS BROTHER JAMIE... AS THE THREE-TIME GRAND SLAM WINNER LOOKS TO BOW OUT IN SENSATIONAL FASHION AT SW19

• Andy and Jamie Murray are set to compete in the men's doubles at Wimbledon
• The former world No 1's participation in the event was in doubt following injury
• The brothers previously teamed up as Team GB won the Davis Cup in 2015 

Andy Murray has been awarded a Wimbledon wildcard to compete alongside his brother Jamie in the men's doubles.

The two-time men's singles champion was forced to pull out of his clash with Australian Jordan Thompson at Queen's last week after nerve pain caused by a spinal cyst immobilised his right leg.

However, despite facing a race against time Murray is determined to bow out with one final appearance at Wimbledon this summer.

Meanwhile 38-year-old Jamie is a doubles specialist, having won seven Grand Slams since turning pro in 2004.

Neither man has previously won the men's doubles at SW19, with Jamie coming closest when he and John Peers were defeated in straight sets by Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in 2015.

The brothers have played together in the past, most notably at the 2015 Davis Cup as Team GB defeated Belgium in the final.

Earlier this week Murray restated his ambition to be fit to participate in the men's singles this summer as he looks to end his career at Wimbledon on a high nearly two decades after his first appearance. 

Obviously the last week's been pretty tough,' Andy said.

‘There's obviously a lot going on with me planning on finishing at the Olympics. 

'When I had the injury at Queen's and then had the subsequent scans and doctor's appointments, it was a pretty difficult situation to be in. I was told I had to have the surgery immediately by multiple surgeons.

'I had a pretty decent sized cyst on my spinal cord which had been seen on a scan post French Open, but it grew significantly in size over the next two to three weeks.

'So I had to have the operation, but I was given multiple different timelines for how long that would take. And also was made aware that if I decided to try to play Wimbledon that there's some risk associated with that and it's whether or not I'm willing to take on that risk.

'But also even with there potentially being a risk, the operation has gone really, really well and I'm recovering really well. I hit some balls yesterday. I'm not in much pain at all, but the nature of nerve injuries is that they're quite slow to recover.

'I don't know exactly how long it's going take for the nerve to get to a stage where I'm able to compete, whether that's three days or whether it's three weeks or five weeks. It's impossible to say.

'I'm in a pretty difficult position because I'm recovering really well each day, I'm progressing really well, but I don't know how I'm going to wake up tomorrow and how quickly my nerve is going to recover because it's not the same as injuring a muscle or tearing a muscle.'

The 37-year-old added that he had recently consulted his brother regarding the possibility of them playing together at Wimbledon.

'If I'm not able to play singles, I don't know exactly when the first round doubles matches start, but there's a difference with how I'm recovering to play on a Monday as opposed to playing on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday… an extra 72 to 96 hours makes a huge difference.' Murray continued.

'It's complicated, and it's made more complicated because I want to play at Wimbledon one more time.

'I spoke to my brother about that a couple of days ago in terms of the doubles to see if he wants to find someone else to play with, and I was absolutely fine with that. But he also wants the opportunity to try to play. We'll see how the next few days go. 

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2024-06-27T23:17:36Z dg43tfdfdgfd