Andy Murray will make a final decision about singles on Monday evening (Picture: Getty)
Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton says fans are already queuing to catch a final glimpse of Andy Murray on Tuesday – despite the fact he might not even play.
The 37-year-old British legend is set to face Tomas Machac in the first round of the men’s singles on Centre Court tomorrow on day two of Wimbledon 2024.
Murray, who is nearing retirement, is in a race against time to recover from the nasty back injury he picked up at Queen’s Club, though, and is waiting until tonight to make a final decision on whether or not he’ll feature in the singles.
If he is unable to play in the singles – it is likely that Murray will feature in the men’s doubles with his brother Jamie – as he has more time to recover.
The Wimbledon men’s doubles do not begin until Wednesday, the third day of the tournament, with some first-round matches not taking place until the Friday.
Wimbledon CEO Bolton was quizzed all about Murray’s injury on Monday and revealed that fans are so desperate to see him in action that they have already started queuing for Tuesday tickets, more than 24 hours before he’ll possibly play.
People queue for tickets every day at Wimbledon – but it is somewhat rare that so many spectators are already looking for entry to day two – when day one has only just started.
Tennis fans are already queueing to catch a bit of Andy Murray (Picture: PA)
‘The queue is very busy this morning,’ Bolton said soon after the Wimbledon gates opened on Monday.
‘Possibly even busier than it was last year. Rather unsurprisingly, We’ve got quite a few people in the queue for tomorrow. So we’re managing both queues at the same time.’
Quizzed if those queuing for day two tickets were specifically looking to watch Andy, and how rare it was that people were queuing for Tuesday tickets this early, Bolton added: ‘When Roger Federer was playing, we always had a consistent next-day queue.
‘There was a group of ladies who literally used to queue, come in, watch tennis and go back out to get back in the queue. They were quite extraordinary!
‘It’s not an unusual phenomenon but the number of people in there (the day two queue) is higher than we’d normally expect. My guess is that they might be thinking that they want to see Andy.’
Speaking more generally about Murray and asked if he had given Wimbledon a ‘headache’ over scheduling, Bolton said: ‘We’ve always got plenty of scheduling challenges. Andy has earned the right to make the decision when he retires.
‘We will respect that. We’ve got to be agile in the way we deliver our plans but we are happy to do that. It’s very much for Andy to make this decision and to do it at a time that’s right for him.
‘The schedule is always up for amendment. We’re always making changes based on players pulling out or other issues. We’ll remain agile on the schedule. [It could potentially change], yes.
Andy Murray won the Wimbledon title in 2013 and again in 2016 (Picture: Getty)
‘All the fans coming here are keen to see Andy. We’d love to see him on the court. Of course, if he isn’t, there is plenty of other tennis. But I know fans are desperate to see him play.
‘The doubles matches… we had schedule any time between Wednesday and Friday. It’s an art, not a science. There’s always a lot of moving parts.
‘As I’ve said many times, we have a variety of plans (for Murray’s retirement) sitting waiting to deliver. But this is Andy’s call. We should all respect that. We’ll be ready whenever that happens.
‘There’s been various conversations going on for some time now. You wouldn’t expect me to share those, and of course Andy is focused on his performances.
‘When Andy does finally decide to hang up his racket, we will really see what he’s meant to British tennis. There’s a lot of pent-up emotion. When we all get the chance to celebrate him, you’ll see how much he means to the UK sports-loving public.
‘There will be tears. I can’t speak for Andy, but for some of the rest of us around the court, there will be some tears in eyes.’