Andy Murray has no plans to renew his much-heralded mixed doubles partnership with Serena Williams at this year’s Wimbledon.
The two-time champion has been rewarded with a wildcard into the men’s draw and said his focus for the 2021 championships would solely be on the singles.
Murray and Williams formed an eye-catching partnership back in 2019 but, of a possible repeat, he said: “No, I hadn’t planned on it this time. Singles is enough for me. Getting through singles has proved tough enough the last year or so. So, I’ll stick to singles this year.”
The former world No1 was back on court at Queen’s on Monday practising with Marin Cilic but was sporting a croaky voice, partly down to cheering Scotland’s 0-0 draw against England as well as a “throaty issue” his family had been through in recent days.
As the 34-year-old returns to singles action at Wimbledon for the first time since playing virtually on one leg in the quarter-finals against Sam Querrey in 2017, he said it was unclear which family members might be courtside for the match.
The father of four said: “I’m not sure if it is appropriate for kids and there is not anywhere for them to hang out. Usually, when the player lounge is open, they have a crèche and things for the kids. I’m not sure if that’s the case this year or not. I’m not sure if they are coming to watch. Maybe my parents will come along. But Kim and the kids, I’m not sure.”
Murray won his opening match on grass at Queen’s Club last week by beating Benoit Paire but lost to eventual champion Matteo Berrettini in the second round.
In the build-up, he had played just two practice sets and the rustiness showed.
In the lead-up to Wimbledon, he said: “In the build-up to Queen’s, I was doing one hard day, one light day. That is what the plan is to do this week as well. Probably I’ll take one day between now and the star of the tournament but that’s the plan this week: one hard day, one easy day, try to play as many sets as I can in the build-up.”
