London–Andy Murray is hoping of making a return to Grand Slam tennis at both the US and French Open later this year.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has been out of action since November with a pelvic injury, but will return in an all-British tournament hosted by his brother Jamie Murray this week.
Murray will face Liam Broady at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton on Tuesday.
The Battle of the Brits gives Murray the chance to get some competitive action under his belt ahead of the planned August resumption of the ATP tour before two Grand Slams come in quick succession.
The US Open is set to take place behind closed doors from 31 August, with the French Open starting on 27 September.
Some leading players, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, have questioned whether they will head across the Atlantic to play at Flushing Meadows.
However, Murray is happy to return to New York for his first Grand Slam since the 2019 Australian Open, even if it means limiting the number of his team who can travel with him.
“Playing the Grand Slams would be my priority,” said the Scot. “The schedule is tricky and I understand the reason why it is like that.
“I don’t mind what the situation is, providing it is safe.
“If I was told I could take one person with me, for example, you can make that work. I’d probably go with a physio and some coaching could be done remotely.”
Murray is yet to draw up a schedule of which events he will play in preparation for the Slams, but is hoping an extended layoff will help his body fully recover from a number of serious injuries.
The 33-year-old had career-saving hip surgery in 2019, before his latest long-term injury layoff.
Murray had been planning a return in March before the coronavirus pandemic brought the tour to a halt.
“My hip has been feeling better for probably the past three or four weeks,” he added.
“Right now, I feel a little bit more confident because I’ve had more training under my belt, more practice. In March time, I’d only been practising for four or five weeks since I’d had the issues.”
Meanwhile, the US Tennis Association, accused of discrimination after calling off its annual US Open wheelchair events, agreed Thursday to work with players regarding details of a 2020 competition.
US Open organizers said Friday in a statement they should have worked and communicated directly with the wheelchair athletes before deciding to cancel the event as part of reductions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They are getting feedback from the Wheelchair competitors to determine what course of action to follow next regarding a 2020 US Open wheelchair event.
Men’s and women’s singles and doubles titles will be contested in New York as planned from August 31-September 13 but wheelchair, qualifying and junior tournaments were called off Wednesday.
That pushed Australian wheelchair standout Dylan Alcott to call the move “disgusting discrimination” by the USTA, which conducted what it termed a “very productive call” Friday with International Tennis Federation leaders and wheelchair athletes who have traditionally competed at the US Open.
The USTA were represented by chief executive officer Mike Dowse, US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster and US Open wheelchair tournament director Jo Wallen.
“The USTA also committed to working with the players and the ITF to explore a number of potential scenarios for the wheelchair competition to determine the best approach moving forward for the athletes and the competition,” the USTA said.
“The USTA expects to gather player feedback on their perspective and work with the ITF to finalize an approach to the 2020 US Open wheelchair competition.”
