EXPLAINER

What should we expect from two-time champion Andy Murray at Wimbledon?

Can the Scot roll back the years and contend for a fourth major title?

Wimbledon: What should we expect from two-time champion Andy Murray at the All England Club? SNS Group

Andy Murray has built his season around being ready for Wimbledon – the grand slam event generally seen as his best chance of rolling back the years.

Now aged 35, sporting a metal hip and entering a seventh year since he last won a major, can we expect much from the Scots tennis legend over the next fortnight?

Who does he play?

As the world number 51, Murray went into Friday’s draw unseeded and could have faced defending champion Novak Djokovic or old Centre Court nemesis Rafael Nadal.

Instead, it worked out as well as he could have hoped, with Australian world number 77 James Duckworth the man who’ll stand across the net on Monday.

If he progresses through the draw unscathed, Murray could face Djokovic in the quarter-finals, but potential disruptors before then include top-15 stars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Is he fit?

He says so, and eyewitnesses report he’s looking healthy on the practice courts. But earlier this week, he was unable to serve at full power due to an abdominal injury.

Murray was struck down during the third set of the Stuttgart Open final earlier in June and was forced to withdraw from Queen’s.

Until that moment, his movement seemed unhindered by his metal hip, but niggling injuries elsewhere have frequently appeared at the wrong time over the past couple of years.

Murray is yet to reach the second week of a grand-slam event since his surgery in 2019, so it remains to be seen if he’s capable of going deep into major tournaments.

How’s his form?

He played well in two grass-court events in the run-up to Wimbledon, reaching the semi-finals of the Surbiton Challenger and the final in Germany.

Along the way, he beat the likes of world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios, who can be brilliant on his day.

Earlier in the season, Murray reached the final of a hard-court tournament in Sydney, but then went on a long run of early exits before taking a break to prepare for grass.

Can Ivan Lendl make a difference?

History says so. Murray won all three of his major titles and both his Olympic golds while under Lendl’s tutelage.

The player-coach partnership got back together for a third time earlier this year and if anyone can squeeze every last drop out of Murray’s game, it’s the Czech legend.

Any other Scots to watch?

Only one in the singles, the world number 12 Cameron Norrie. He opens against Pablo Andujar on Monday.

In the doubles, Jamie Murray will be looking to win a first Wimbledon men’s doubles title.

And Gordon Reid will be going for yet another trophy – he’s won ten wheelchair doubles slams in a row with partner Alfie Hewitt.

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