<
>

Murray comeback starts at Queen's Club doubles

Former world No. 1 Andy Murray plans to return to tennis at the Fever-Tree Championships at London's Queen's Club.

If all goes well there, Murray is hoping to play doubles at Wimbledon as well.

The 32-year-old Scot has not played since having a right hip resurfacing operation in January, surgery he opted for after the persistent pain had become too much to handle.

Less than six months after he feared his career could be over, Murray is set to begin his comeback -- in doubles only -- at the Queen's Club event, which begins on June 17.

"I am really excited to return to the match court for the first time since my surgery," Murray said in a statement. "Queen's has always been a special place for me and it's the perfect place to return. It's where I won my first ATP match, my first title in Britain and on grass, and it's been my most successful tournament overall. I'm not yet ready to return to the singles court, but I've been pain-free for a few months now. I've made good progress in training and on the practice court, and this is the next step for me as I try to return to the tour."

Though he hopes to play doubles at Wimbledon in July, Murray is still considered to be "extremely unlikely" to play singles as he continues to recover full fitness and test out his hip in a match situation.

"I always thought he would find a way to come back," Rafael Nadal said from the French Open. "He's young and very passionate about the game. It's great news."

The surgery removed the damaged bone and cartilage within his right hip socket, replacing it with a metal shell.

In March, Murray said he was pain-free for the first time in several years and that he would know by the end of May if he was on track to make a return in time for the grass-court season.

On Sunday, the two-time former Wimbledon champion posted a video of himself on Instagram serving and running toward the net. On Monday, it was confirmed that he is on the entry list for Queen's, where he is provisionally entered with Spain's Feliciano Lopez.

In January, he said he would be having the operation in the knowledge that it could mean the end of his career but that if it worked, he would work as hard as possible to make a comeback, as long as he was pain-free.

The return to full fitness last year of doubles specialist Bob Bryan after a similar operation gave Murray hope, and his mother, Judy Murray, had said in Melbourne in January that she felt he was "not done with tennis."

Last month, Jamie Murray said he would not be playing doubles with Andy at Wimbledon this summer because he felt it was too soon for his younger brother to be at full speed to have a shot at the title.