Andy Murray has revealed that he could return to singles action as early as August, with the three-time Grand Slam champion targeting the Cincinnati Masters.
Speaking ahead of his doubles opener with brother Jamie Murray at the Citi Open in Washington, the 32-year-old said: “I think I’m quite close. If I was to play a tournament in a few weeks’ time, I could do it, but it’s just to get to maybe where I want to get to, I’ll need to play matches and get a little bit more work done in the gym on my cardio.”
The former world No. 1 continued: “If I keep progressing and I feel good in three weeks’ time, then I’ll play singles as soon as I’m ready.
“Best-case scenario probably would be Cincinnati, and then if I wasn’t able to play in Cincinnati, there’s a good chance I would probably wait until after [the US Open], because I wouldn’t want my first tournament to be playing best of five [sets].”
Murray underwent hip resurfacing surgery earlier this year after a first-round exit at the Australian Open in January, which led the two-time Wimbledon winner to contemplate retirement.
After a successful operation, the Scot made his return to action at Queen’s Club in June, lifting the doubles trophy with partner Feliciano Lopez, who also won the singles title.
Murray then partnered Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the men’s doubles draw at Wimbledon, but suffered a first-round defeat. He also paired up with Serena Williams for an entertaining mixed doubles run, which saw the two players reach the third round at the All England Club.
The Scot has twice won the singles crown in Cincinnati, beating Novak Djokovic in the 2008 and 2011 finals.