Andy Murray admits this could be his last Wimbledon appearance

Andy Murray has opened up on his future, and whether he'll return to play another edition of Wimbledon next year.

A victory at the Nottingham Challenger recently took Murray to his highest ATP ranking, no. 38 in the world, since his hip surgery back in 2019. The former top-ranked player entered the Queen's tournament last week after two back-to-back tournament wins in Challenger events.

Andy Murray unseeded at Wimbledon

Unfortunately, Murray's hopes of being seeded at Wimbledon this year ended when he suffered a first-round elimination at Queen's. Murray lost 6-3, 6-1 to Australia's 24-year-old Alex de Minaur, who was eventually beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Even though Murray is unseeded, he will compete at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club next week, and is also hoping that it won't be his last appearance at Wimbledon.

In a recent interview, when a reporter asked Murray if the upcoming Wimbledon would be his last, the two-time champion replied, "I hope not, but you never know. It's why athletes need to make the most of it while they're still able to because if I was to have another big injury or if something happened to the metal hip that would be me finished.

"I wouldn't try to come back from another operation or major surgery again so I want to keep playing a bit longer. I know it's not going to be going on forever but I have an idea of when I would like to finish and it's not this year's Wimbledon."

In 2017, Murray lost to Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and his career looked to have reached an end after he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of the Australian Open in 2019. But a second hip surgery gave Murray a renewed chance in tennis, even though he earlier believed that the operation would force him into an early retirement.

Now, the 36-year-old tennis star believes that he can call it quits on his own terms and when he feels it is the right time, before adding it won't be immediately.

"That's an experience I went through where I didn't know if I was going to be able to play again. So I certainly don't want to put myself in that position – I want to finish my career on the tennis court. It's something I have an idea about when it is I would like to stop and a plan for that – certainly nothing immediate," added Murray.

Andy Murray loved the way Roger Federer retired

Speaking of retirement, Murray took the example of Roger Federer as the best way to bow out of the game. Even though many believed Federer would retire at Wimbledon, the 20-time Grand Slam winner chose to play his final game on the doubles court, partnering Rafael Nadal, his fierce rival and good friend. In his final outing on the tennis court, which was at the Laver Cup last year, Federer was surrounded by some of his biggest rivals, including Murray.

"There's no right or wrong way of finishing your career and it's always a really difficult one for athletes. Lots of people would have said the best way for Roger Federer to finish would have been at Wimbledon but I thought the way that he finished his career on the doubles court with Rafa surrounded by some of the greats of the game was brilliant.

"The way Rafa wants to go about it is up to him and Serena [Williams] finished at the US Open after a great run. There's never one way of doing it. It's whatever's right for the individual," explained Murray.

As Murray waits for his Wimbledon draw, he is set to play an exhibition match against rising star Holger Rune at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham on Wednesday. Hurlingham is known to draw the world's best players and will also host World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, top British player Cameron Norrie and defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.

Wimbledon is scheduled to get underway on July 3 at All England Club.