Andy Murray revealed on Friday he is “likely” to compete at Wimbledon after the two-time champion was handed a first-round tie against France’s Benoit Paire.
Murray had left his participation in the grass-court Grand Slam to the last minute as the former world number one makes tentative progress in his return from hip surgery.
The 31-year-old Scot has played just three matches since making his comeback last week after 11 months on the sidelines.
Murray, whose ranking has dropped to 156, had an operation on his right hip in January and only returned to action on June 18 when he was beaten by Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s Club.
The three-time Grand Slam winner saw off Stan Wawrinka at Eastbourne on Monday, but after losing to fellow Briton Kyle Edmund on Wednesday he conceded his fitness was still an issue.
Despite his lack of match practice, Murray has opted to give it a go at his home Grand Slam, where he will play in a best of five sets tournament for the first time since his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat against Sam Querrey 12 months ago.
“I feel all right, not much different to how I felt two days ago really,” Murray said after Friday’s draw.
“I’ll chat to my team this afternoon and also see a bit how the next two days go.
“I’m playing sets and stuff (on Saturday), and then, yeah, but most likely yeah, I’ll play.
“The thing is I obviously don’t know every single day how things will be. I need to play it a little bit by ear.
“I can’t predict how I’m going to feel in two days. But if I feel like I do today in a couple of days, I’ll be playing.”
Murray, who defeated Paire in straight sets at Wimbledon last year, could still withdraw from the tournament right up until the scheduled start of his clash with the world number 48.
Wimbledon starts on Monday and Murray, who hasn’t publicly announced he is definitely fit enough to play, is due to face the media in a press conference on Saturday.
If he does take part, Murray is scheduled to face former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the third round and may have to get past Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and Roger Federer in the final.
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