| Venue: All England Club Dates: 28 June-11 July |
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Britain’s former world number one Andy Murray says practising with Swiss great Roger Federer has helped build his confidence before he makes a long-awaited singles return at Wimbledon.
The two-time SW19 champion, who has not played in the singles since 2017, faces Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili on Monday when the Grand Slam begins.
“I’m not going out there and getting whacked,” said the 34-year-old Scot.
“I’m competing well with all of the players that I practised with.”
Murray will face 24th seed Basilashvili in the third match on Centre Court, meaning it will start about 18:00 BST.
Murray’s last appearance in the singles came when he limped out of the quarter-finals four years ago after losing in five sets to American Sam Querrey.
After two major hip surgeries, the 2013 and 2016 champion returns this year and will play in front of home fans as Wimbledon is part of the government’s Event Research Programme.
“I’m delighted that I can be back competing here again,” added Murray.
“I’m most excited about being in front of a big crowd and the fans. That’s really something I’ve missed a lot.
“I know it’s not normal, but it feels somewhat normal now.
“We’re a couple days out from Wimbledon, with all the players around, practising, everybody doing the media stuff, knowing that in a couple of days’ time we’ll be playing, not in front of a full crowd, but in front of a lot of people.”
One player who won’t be featuring, however, is Frederik Nielsen. The Dane – who won the men’s doubles title with Britain’s Jonny Marray in 2012 – must self-isolate for 10 days and has been withdrawn from the tournament, having been deemed a close contact of his coach who has tested positive for Covid.
‘Andy looks good’ – Federer on Murray & the Olympics
Murray made his return to the singles court at Queen’s last week, having not played for three months because of a niggling groin injury.
After beating France’s Benoit Paire in his opening match, he lost to Italian top seed Matteo Berrettini and has since been continuing his Wimbledon preparation on the practice courts.
Murray played with eight-time champion Federer on an outside court at the All England Club on Friday, providing a treat for those people already working on site and able to see two of the game’s greats at close quarters.
Federer, 39, is also working his way back towards full fitness after a knee injury which needed two surgeries and kept him out of Grand Slam action for 16 months.
“It was very nice sharing a court again with Andy. I thought he looked good,” said Federer, who pulled out of the French Open before his last-16 match and lost in the Halle second round last week.
“I hope he can go deep here or have a decent run. I think we both back our chances here.”
On Friday, Murray was also selected to represent Great Britain in the delayed Tokyo Olympics next month and Federer – who turns 40 during the Games – says he will make a decision on his participation after Wimbledon.
“Still my feeling is I would like to go to the Olympics. I would like to play as many tournaments as possible,” said Federer, who won silver at London 2012 after losing the final to Murray.
“At the moment things are not as simple as in the past. With age you have to be more selective. You can’t play it all.
“We’re going to reassess the situation after Wimbledon because, if I play really good here or really bad, I think it has an impact on how everything might look for the summer.”
