Andy Murray out of Wimbledon tuneup; still hopes to play on grass

LONDON – Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says he is “not quite ready to return” from his hip operation and is pulling out of a grass-court tournament in the Netherlands next week.

“I am still aiming to play in the coming weeks,” Murray said in a statement released Tuesday night, “but I want to be 100 percent when I do return.”

The former No. 1-ranked player has not competed on tour since losing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last July.

He had surgery on his right hip in Australia in January.

Ever since then, he has been targeting a return during the grass-court circuit, with an eye to being prepared to participate in Wimbledon, where play begins July 2.

He said in a video shot at a promotional appearance for a car sponsor that he recently began training again and is still hoping to play on the grass.

Murray, who turned 31 last month, called his recovery “very slow,” saying it is taking “a lot longer than I think me or any of my team kind of expected at the beginning.”

Murray won championships at the All England Club in 2013, becoming the first British man to win that tournament in 77 years, and again in 2016.

He also won a Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2012, along with the past two Olympics gold medals in men’s singles.

Murray has entered the Queen’s Club tournament, which he has won five times, but has yet to confirm he will play there. The London event starts June 18.