Wimbledon 2024 News Live: Andy Murray to provide injury update and latest preparations for tennis tournament

Andy Murray admitted it was “risky” to attempt to play at Wimbledon just a week after undergoing back surgery and said he still needs to see improvements in his movement in the future if he wants to appear at what is expected to be his final tournament.

Murray, 37, is scheduled to play a singles match against Tomasz Machak on Tuesday and made his first appearance at the Orange practice ground on Saturday afternoon. The two-time Wimbledon champion worked on his serve, return, groundstroke and sprints during the one-hour session, but his movements were slow and heavy.

Murray confirmed this after the match, admitting he didn’t know if he would be ready to play by Tuesday, as his match was scheduled for the evening. “I need to be able to move normally, but I can’t at the moment, so let’s see in 48 hours or so,” Murray said. “I don’t know – it’s really hard to know how things are going to go.”

Emma Raducanu She is confident about Wimbledon but not expecting much from her first match on Monday.

The former US Open champion performed well on English grass, reaching the semi-finals in Nottingham before losing to Katie Bolt She won her first ever top 10 match against a top 10 opponent in a very tight contest Jessica Pegula On the way Eastbourne quarter final.

She is one of the most dangerous unseeded players, but the draw is not friendly, with the Russian No. 22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrovawho has good experience on grass courts, is her first opponent.

“If I can get past the first round, I’ll be very happy,” Raducanu said.

“I think it’s a tough match. She’s highly seeded. Obviously it’s going to be a tough match. I think she has big weapons. Big weapons are only magnified on this kind of surface.”

Ahead of Carlos Alcaraz’s return to Wimbledon as defending champion:

“I always say I’m happy to be back at Wimbledon. It’s even more special to be the defending champion. I have great memories of last year and a great performance. I’m very excited to start the tournament and hopefully get the same results as last year.

“I feel good. To be honest, after the loss to Jack Draper at Queens, I had a lot of days to get my game in shape, practice, improve.

“Yeah, I remember the day after we lost at Queen’s, I was working on moving, hitting the ball, just to get more comfortable moving on grass this year, playing on grass.

“Now I’ve had some good practice with a lot of good players, just to see where my level is at. Now I think I’m ready to start playing.”

Novak Djokovic spoke about his fitness ahead of Wimbledon after undergoing knee surgery: “So far the knee has responded very well to the surgery, which of course bodes well for me at Wimbledon. That’s why I decided to play.

“I’ve got a couple days left. I’m playing on Tuesday. I feel pretty confident in the health of my knee and overall very good physical condition. Obviously once the tournament starts I’ll have more feeling and more feedback on how the knee will react to a best-of-five major.

“Everything that has been done so far has been very positive.”

Emma Raducanu said ahead of her Wimbledon return: “I’m so happy to be back here. I felt like I missed this tournament so much. This year, I came back to practice and I would say it reminded me of a lot of things.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to play here with the wild card. Obviously, I have great memories of 2021. Yeah, it’s a great place to be.”

She also said the British players had momentum in the draw, having pushed each other after Jack Draper and Katie Boulter won titles previously at Wimbledon.

“I thought Jack and Katie did really well, especially because they were both seeded here. They both won titles on grass courts. I think it’s a fantastic thing for British tennis,” Raducanu said.

“I think it’s a great thing for other players who want to get to the next round or stay at the top to do the same thing. I think we’re all motivating each other really well.

“In Eastbourne we had three women in the last eight, which I thought was pretty good in the 500 class. I think everyone was pushing each other, which was great. It was healthy competition. That’s the way it should be.”

After leaving the training ground, John McEnroe and Nick Kyrgios stopped Andy Murray to film a podcast. Prior to this, Murray had a laugh with his team after the training. You get the feeling they will miss these moments.

Emma Raducanu has previously given Andy Murray a good answer, calling him her “hero” as she hopes he recovers in time for Wimbledon.

“I think for a tournament like Wimbledon, you push your body to the limit and you take your recovery to the extreme. You take the consequences of whatever you need to do during or after the tournament. I think you absolutely push yourself to the extreme and push the people around you to the best of their ability as well.

“I’m glad to see him here because when I think of Wimbledon, I think of Andy. That was a generation of heroes that I looked up to when I was growing up. I think it’s a great feeling and I really hope that, yes, he’s there on Tuesday or whenever.”

Murray’s return to practice was visibly heavy, but the 37-year-old is clearly determined to take advantage of every opportunity to play at this week’s Wimbledon, after which he will have two days to decide whether he is ready to play in Tuesday’s singles match against Tomasz Maczak.

He is due to give a speech tomorrow.

A very positive sight: Andy Murray is now hitting balls and serving on the practice court at SW19. After undergoing back surgery last weekend, he had three days to prepare for his first-round singles match and this afternoon he relaxed at Wimbledon, which was a hopeful sign.

Alexander Zverev believes he can win Wimbledon and says it is the most open tournament in 20 years. The German fourth seed reached the Australian Open semi-finals and French Open final this season, but his best result at Wimbledon was the fourth round.

“This is the first time I really feel like I’m here to be a contender and maybe win a championship,” he said. “I didn’t feel that way when I came here the first few years. I didn’t feel like I had it. I didn’t believe I had it.

“I also think this is probably the most open Wimbledon we’ve had in 20 years in terms of favourites and potential winners. I think there are quite a few players who have a good chance of going far and winning the tournament.

I think that has not been the case for about 20 years, since Roger started playing, right? After Roger, Nadal, Novak, Andy came along. The number of players who can actually compete and win tournaments has been very limited.

“I really feel like things are different this year. I really feel like I can say I’m the guy who’s going to give it everything I’ve got.

“Do I need a little more luck, a little more things, a little more happening in this tournament? Yes, definitely. Maybe a little more than in other Grand Slams.”

“If these things go right, if these things go my way for once, do I believe I can win? Well, yes, I can.”