Andy Murray says abdominal injury is improving, still plans to play at Wimbledon 2022

Murray was back to something approaching his best in his run to the final of the Stuttgart Open, winning four straight-set matches in five days – including over top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas – before coming unstuck against eventual champion Matteo Berrettini.

The Brit therefore has mixed feelings ahead of the SW19 showpiece – that he has won twice – being pleased with his form but cautious over his abdominal strain.

“The next couple of days are pretty important for me,” Murray said.

“Obviously the plan is still to play. The injury is improving. I’ve had it rescanned and it’s progressing in the right way.

“But you can probably work out from the nature of the injury which shots it is that I’ve been struggling with and haven’t been able to practise [likely serve and overhead with such an injury].

“In the next few days, I’ll start to increase that and test it out. Hopefully it’s recovered sufficiently.

“I’m feeling better than I was on the Sunday evening [after the Stuttgart final].

“Training has been going well in some aspects. With the nature of the injury, it’s not stopped me from practising.

“I’ve been able to do a lot of work on the court, but there are specific shots that I haven’t been able to practice yet. In the next couple of days, we’ll start to do that.

“The injury that I have is not a significant injury, but it’s an injury that is tricky for tennis players.

“You need to manage them well and do everything properly and respect it. I’ve done that so far. Hopefully that will pay dividends.”

Murray has battled against a number of setbacks to return to top-level tennis following his much-documented hip surgery, which resulted in him having a metal cap fitted.

It is therefore a disappointment for the 35-year-old that he has been stopped in his tracks at such a vital juncture of his season, but he retains an optimistic outlook.

He said: “Everyone that I trust and respect in terms of their opinions on my game and my movement were very happy with how that side of things was going and progressing.

“It’s frustrating to be in this position in the build-up to Wimbledon, but I’ve been in worse situations in recent years.

“The positive for me is that I’ve dealt with certainly worse issues in the last few years and handled them OK.”

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