The All England Club are “ready and prepared” to pay tribute to Andy Murray if he plays his final Wimbledon this summer – but will wait for final confirmation from the Scot that he is retiring.
The double champion has yet to give a definite date for his final match but has admitted: “When the time is right, I will stop. I don’t know if I will play past the summer.”
And after his first round defeat at the Boss Open in Stuttgart this week, the world No.97 questioned if he will still play the Olympics.
But the Australian Open played a video montage of tributes after Murray’s loss there in 2019 – and he then underwent successful hip surgery and is still playing.
He will team up in the men’s doubles this year with his brother Jamie for his potential farewell performance.
But All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said: “We have certainly got plans in place and we’re ready and prepared but ultimately it is Andy’s decision and we will be very much led by him and amend our plans accordingly. But we are ready in any eventuality but it has to be led by Andy.
“We don’t need any notice – we are ready. We have plans that are very adaptable. We are clear about what we want to do. It is really important that this is Andy’s call and we will be very much led by him and the decision that he makes.
“We will certainly be talking to members of Andy’s team but we won’t be sharing any more details of the plans because they are flexible. We will be very much be guided by Andy and he needs to make the decision for himself.”
Fred Perry has a statue by a Centre Court – and Murray could get the same.
“We have got a range of paths to our plans for Andy,” Bolton added. “At the right point in time we will make those relevant announcements. But it is certainly for Andy to make the decision for when we trigger those plans. I think we will all share some of the same emotions as and when Andy decides to retire.”
Wimbledon will offer record prize money of £50m – an 11.9% increase on last year. The singles champions will each received £2.7m while a Wimbledon wildcard is now worth at least £60,000 for a first round defeat.
Total prize money has doubled from £25m in 2014.
