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Jamie Murray column on Wimbledon 2021, neck injury and Andy Murray's return

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Published in Tennis
Thursday, 01 July 2021 08:48

Britain's seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray returns to Wimbledon - and is back with a BBC Sport column. In his first piece, the Scot talks about a frustrating neck injury, how Wimbledon is different for the players and his younger brother Andy's singles return.

Being back at Wimbledon for the Championships is absolutely fantastic and I'm so pleased to be here - albeit in very different circumstances.

However, my preparations have been hampered by a neck injury and the rain - which has been very frustrating.

I've barely practised this week, although I managed to get a full session in on Wednesday.

I hurt my neck in a first-round match at Eastbourne last Wednesday, then pulled out of the next match there and didn't play for five days.

Since coming into the Wimbledon bubble on Sunday night, we have been unlucky with the weather and got rained off after 20 minutes on Tuesday.

Luckily the rain held off so I could practise with my partner Bruno Soares on Wednesday and that's been it really. So I haven't played much.

Even in Eastbourne, the weather restricted my time on court. The day we played our match it was nice but the two days before that it was raining all the time.

The neck injury is definitely improving, slower than I would like, but it has felt a lot less restricted.

I have been seeing the physio, going to the chiropractor and doing various treatments like dry needling and heat patches.

I'm doing everything I can to be back to full fitness, obviously, but when it starts feeling better you want to go out and practise - then the weather has been rubbish so I've not been able to.

Everything in my game has been affected by the neck problem and it is never easy when you can't move your neck properly because you're always turning and looking around.

It has been pretty restrictive.

We'll see what happens on Friday when Bruno and I start against Canada's Vasek Pospisil and American Nick Monroe.

It has definitely improved over the past few days and I'm hoping that when we get on court I'll be good to go.

'I live five minutes from Wimbledon but have to stay in the hotel bubble'

As you will know Wimbledon is a totally different experience for everyone this year.

It is very strange for the players because the venue is set up totally different to ensure that all the protocols can be followed.

The locker rooms on the Aorangi practice courts have been adjusted and the player restaurant is now over two floors with the tables socially distanced.

The Aorangi locker rooms mean your matches get called from there, depending on what court you're on. So if you're on Court One or courts 14-18 your player escort would be from the Aorangi Pavilion so you use those locker rooms on that day.

You don't have your own locker this year, so you can't leave your bag anywhere in the changing rooms. Unless you want to carry your bag around all day you've got to leave it in a big pile.

There are a load of little cubicles where you are supposed to shower and get changed in. I first went on site on Monday and it took a while to get my head around things.

It is different this year no doubt, but goes without saying it is great to get the chance to play again the All England Club.

Hotel life is OK, I guess, but I live five minutes from the club. So spending two hours on a bus going to the venue every day is a bit hard to get your head around.

But that's the situation it is here and I'm not complaining. Everything is fine with the hotel, which is near Westminster in Central London, and us players have got everything we need to be able to compete at a Grand Slam.

It is the same life we have been having for the past nine months, stuck in a hotel and trotted out to the courts. That has been the same situation every week so we're used to it.

I was critical of the French Open's hotel but Wimbledon has made a much better effort in terms of making the facilities as good as experience as possible.

But, for me, not being at home this week and in this part of the season is never going to be a great experience.

'I turned on Andy's first match when he was 5-1 up in the third'

My younger brother Andy made his comeback in the Wimbledon singles on Monday, winning in four sets against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili after a surviving a wobble in the third.

Then he won another thriller on Wednesday against Germany's Oscar Otte.

I starting watching the first match midway through the second set, on the bus back to the hotel, and then got back to the room when he was 5-1 up in the third set. Obviously things turned out a bit strange!

He did really well to turn it around and I guess the break to close the roof was probably good for him in the end, to gather himself and go out and play a good fourth set.

It is great to see him back out there on the singles court at Wimbledon and competing well.

I hope he's feeling good and can continuing playing well on the biggest stages.

Jamie Murray was speaking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko.

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