Tennis: Andy Murray to be honoured with Wimbledon statue

Plans are in place to recognise retiring Scottish tennis great Andy Murray with a statue at Wimbledon.

Murray created history at Wimbledon in 2013, when he became the first British player since Fred Perry, 77 years earlier, to win the men's singles title at the All England Club, beating Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller.

He went onto win a second title at the world's oldest tournament in 2016, but the prospects of adding one more seem slim.

On Friday, the 31-year-old announced he was planning to hang up his racquet at this year's Wimbledon tournament - if not sooner - due to a lingering hip injury.

"I can't keep doing this and I needed to have an end point, because I was playing with no idea when the pain was going to stop," he said.

"I told them I think I can get through this until Wimbledon. That's where I'd like to stop playing, but I'm also not certain I will able to do that."

The bronze statue's expected to take pride of place alongside that of three-time Wimbledon champion Perry, according to All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis.

Andy Murray at Friday's press conference.
Andy Murray at Friday's press conference. Photo credit: AAP

"For sure, I don't think there's any doubt about that," he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek. "When the question of a statue was raised, we always felt that when Andy retired, that would be the appropriate time to recognise his extraordinary career.

"I am sure something like that will be done, but meanwhile, down at the club, he is seen as a highly respected person, both on and off the court. We are very fond of him and he is a great person to have around the club."

Perry's statue was revealed in 1984 to mark the 50th anniversary of his first singles championship.

The 2019 Wimbledon Championship starts on July 2 (NZ time).

Before Wimbledon though, Murray has a big challenge on his hands in his first-round match at the Australian Open against 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut on Monday.

Murray has never lost to the Spaniard, winning all three previous match-ups, but they haven’t faced each other since the Shanghai Masters final in 2016.

The Scot has also never won the Australian Open, but has played in five finals - 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016.

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