Tennis: Andy Murray closer than he thought to singles return

Washington: Former world No. 1 Andy Murray is considering returning to singles action at Cincinnati next month, saying he is “closer than he thought” to being ready.

The 32-year-old has not played singles since losing in the first round of the Australian Open in January to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, after which he underwent hip resurfacing surgery in a bid to salvage his career.

He returned to doubles action at Queen’s Club this year, winning the title with Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, and also played men’s doubles with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and mixed with Serena Williams at Wimbledon.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray had previously said it was extremely unlikely he would be ready to play singles at the US Open but now believes a return on the Cincinnati hard courts in two weeks’ time is possible.

“I’m closer than I thought,” Murray said at the Citi Open in Washington where he is playing doubles with brother Jamie.

“Best case scenario probably would be Cincinnati,” he said.

“And then if I wasn’t able to play in Cincinnati, there’s a good chance I would probably wait until after New York, because I wouldn’t want my first tournament to be playing best-of-five sets.

“In terms of moving and feeling and waking up the next day, I’m feeling good. I’m quite close but there’s stuff that would need to get better.”