Murray hopes this will not be his last Wimbledon

Andy Murray is hopeful 2021 will prove not to be his last appearance at Wimbledon.

The two-time tournament winner has been handed a wildcard for the grass-court grand slam in London, which was cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Murray also missed the 2018 and 2019 tournaments due to injury, so this year will be his first Wimbledon outing since reaching the quarter-finals in 2017, when the ailing Briton suffered a five-set defeat to Sam Querrey.

Ahead of his first Wimbledon appearance in four years, the 34-year-old hopes to play in many more, though he will savour the experience and take nothing for granted given his recent injury woe.

"To me it's not so much about me worrying about it being my last one, it's just something that I think about," Murray told Sky News.

"I don't want it to be my last Wimbledon, certainly I want to keep playing, I don't want to stop just now, so yeah I want to keep going.

"I've had so many injuries and so many setbacks you just don't really know what's round the corner.

"I want to approach each tournament and each match that I play like it's my last one so that I can get the most out of it.

"So that's why I want to prepare here well. I'm going into the bubble on Wednesday evening so I'm going to get there early to practise at Wimbledon. 

"Hopefully I've got some high quality practices – I'm practising with Marin Cilic and I practise with Roger Federer later in the week.

"I'm just trying to play with high quality grass court players to prepare me as best as possible." 

Murray, who has undergone two hip surgeries since he last played at Wimbledon, earned an impressive win on the grass over Benoit Paire at Queen's last week.

He then lost in straight sets to eventual champion Matteo Berrettini in round two.

As long as he can prepare properly and remain competitive, three-time grand slam champion Murray, who has also previously won the US Open, wants to battle on.

He added: "It's more about the body if I'm restricted in how I can prepare. 

"If I can't prepare properly to compete then that's when it's not fair on yourself to keep putting yourself out there, because you're not properly prepared and can't do yourself justice.

"So if that was the case and I was having to compromise on my training just to get out there on a match court and my results weren't good – that is something I'd look at. 

"But providing I can train and prepare well and I'm enjoying it I'll do it for as long as I can."