Despite serious doubt that two former champions would be ready when Wimbledon kicks off on Monday, both Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray look to have the green light to compete at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.
Both the Serbian and the Brit were placed in Friday's bracket despite undergoing operations recently. Being put in the bracket doesn't guarantee participation, but Djokovic at least looks ready to compete after getting in a couple of practice sessions this week. He is coming off surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion is set to begin on Tuesday against Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva. Djokovic is looking to return to the peak after losing one of the best matches in recent memory against Carlos Alcaraz in the 2023 Wimbledon final. He had won each of the last four iterations of the tournament before the tight loss.
After advancing to all four Grand Slam finals in 2023 — and winning three of them — Djokovic has somewhat surprisingly not been to a final this calendar year. He lost in the semifinal of the Australian Open to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who went on to beat Daniil Medvedev and capture his first Grand Slam title.
In the French Open, Djokovic was forced to retire ahead of his quarterfinal match due to the ailment that led to knee surgery. After two consecutive disappointing results, it'll be interesting to see if the greatest of all time can find some more magic this year.
For Andy Murray, there is more doubt about his availability ahead of what will surely be his final time at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray's final Wimbledon will be special
Murray has won Wimbledon twice, once in 2013 and again in 2016. He said on Thursday that he would wait until the last moment to decide whether to play, and that could include playing doubles with his older brother Jamie. The two received a wild-card entry into the doubles draw.
It would be devastating for tennis fans in London if probably the greatest player to ever come out of the United Kingdom was unable to take the court. And it's clear he's doing everything he can to get back out there.
“I feel that I deserve the opportunity to give it until the very last moment to make that decision,” Murray said in a statement released on Thursday, per ESPN's Tom Hamilton. “If I was to be playing on Monday, I may know on Sunday there's no chance that I can play. But also if it is progressing, I'm on the court yesterday and I'm able to go on the court and move around more today and start to do more sort of tennis movements and stuff, I'm not necessarily going to know how that's going to change over the next 48 to 72 hours.”
Murray had a cyst removed from his spinal cord last weekend, a procedure that can take around six weeks to recover from. The 37-year-old is trying to do it in two in the quest to get on the court that has been so kind to him throughout his career.
Murray is set to play his first-round singles match against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Hopefully, the extra day of rest will allow him at least one more chance to play in front of the adoring crowd on Centre Court.
And after that, it looks like the Paris Olympics and then retirement for one of the games greatest talents.
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