Andy Murray drawn to face Tomas Machac in Wimbledon singles first round

Andy Murray will take on Tomas Machac in the first round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon – if he wins his fitness battle in time to compete.

The Scot underwent surgery on his back last week and has said that he will wait until the last minute before deciding if he is fit to take part in the singles.

Murray is keen to make a competitive farewell at what is expected to be his last Wimbledon, and the two-time champion has also registered to take part in the doubles with his brother Jamie.

He now knows who lies in wait if he does declare himself ready for the singles, with world number 38 Machac his first opponent. The Czech competed in the main competition for the first time last year but was knocked out in the first round.

Machac reached the third round of both the Australian and French Open this year.

The 37-year-old said on Thursday that he had already been back on court training after his surgery but that it was more unlikely that he would be fit to play in the singles, explaining he felt he had earned the right to go into the draw and pull out if he felt unable to play.

Being drawn to face Machac in the opposite side of the bracket from defending champion Carlos Alcaraz means Murray is down to play on Tuesday instead of Monday, giving him an extra day’s recovery and increasing the chance that he might play.

Speaking on Thursday, ahead of the draw, Murray said: “Maybe it’s my ego getting in the way but I feel that I deserve the opportunity to give it until the very last moment to make that decision [on the singles].

“If I was to be playing on Monday, I may know on Sunday there’s no chance that I can play. It’s not going to recover overnight from where it is enough to allow me to play. So a decision to play singles, I may be able to make that on Sunday or whatever. 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.

“If I’m not able to play singles, I don’t know exactly when the first round doubles matches start, but there’s a difference with how I’m recovering to play on a Monday as opposed to playing on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

“The rate that I’m improving just know, if that was to continue then an extra 72 to 96 hours makes a huge difference.”

He continued: “It has been mentioned to me, are you going to withdraw before the draw at 10am on Friday? And I’m like ‘Well, no, I’m not. I’m going to wait until the last minute to see if I’m going to be able to and I’ve earned that right to do that’.

“This is not clear cut where I am 100% going to be ready to play or there is a 0% chance that I can play. That is the situation.

“I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now. I’m also f***ing doing rehab 24/7 to try to give myself that opportunity to play there again.”