Andy Murray: Uncertain Timeline for Return Following Ankle Injury for Three-Time Grand Slam Champion

There is no clear timescale for Andy Murray’s return after Britain’s former world number one ruptured ankle ligaments earlier in March.

The 36-year-old sustained the injury in his Miami Open third-round defeat.

A spokesperson said Murray will miss April’s clay-court Monte Carlo Masters and BMW Open in Munich following a consultation with medical experts.

The three-time Grand Slam champion has previously said he does not plan to “play much past this summer”.

Murray played on to complete the match against Machac, losing 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-5), before revealing the extent of the injury on Monday.

The Scot said he had suffered a full rupture of his anterior talofibular ligament and near full-thickness rupture of his calcaneofibular ligament.

“At this stage, it is still not clear how long Andy will be out of action, and he is continuing to review options with his medical team,” a statement from Murray’s management team read.

“Obviously this is very disappointing news for Andy and he has reiterated his desire to get back on court as soon as possible.”

Murray, who turns 37 in May, said earlier this year that he wants compete at another Olympic Games before he retires.

The two-time Olympic champion has also indicated he wants to make one final appearance at the French Open, which starts on 26 May.

Murray has only played once at Roland Garros since undergoing career-saving hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, losing to Stan Warwinka in the first round in 2020.

Wimbledon, where he is a two-time champion, begins on 1 July, while the Olympics take place in Paris from 26 July.

Direct entry into the Olympic men’s singles will be given to the top 56 players in the ATP rankings on 10 June.

However, Murray could be placed outside and still qualify because of withdrawals, he could also be given a spot as a former Olympic and Grand Slam champion.

His run to the last 32 in Miami took him to 59th in the rankings before this injury setback.

Analysis
Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport

The curtain is coming down on Murray’s stellar career and he has long wanted to go out on his own terms.

So it feels cruel one of tennis’ all-time greats, who has already defiantly fought back from a potentially career-ending hip surgery in 2019, has suffered another injury blow when time is running out.

The advice of the specialists he has been seeing since arriving back in London on Tuesday will determine how the goodbyes pan out.

Surgery is still a possibility. But it is likely to be a last resort as the recovery time will be longer and could impact his hopes of fulfilling the farewells of which he dreams.

Murray planned to make a rare return to the French Open clay at the end of May. He longs for one more glorious goodbye at Wimbledon. The Olympics in Paris is also tempting him as being the perfect setting to say ‘au revoir’.

Avoiding surgery would boost those hopes, according to orthopaedic experts. But that first relies on waiting and seeing if the ligaments can heal sufficiently without needing to reconstruct them.

If it is possible, and he does play Wimbledon and/or the Olympics as hoped, Murray will bow out this summer where he belongs – on the centre stage.