Tennis: Murray: the Wait Goes on

Andy Murray has condemned the nation to another 24 hours of will-he-won't-he after announcing that his wrist might be all right for him to play - and then again it might not.

After playing for two hours yesterday at Wimbledon he decided not to decide anything until after one last practice session tomorrow.

Murray injured tendons in his right wrist in Hamburg on 15 May, his twentieth birthday, and has not played since. If he does make it to the start line for his third Wimbledon he will face a first-round match against Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti, who is just the sort of player to ease Murray into the event - a 30-year-old who peaked seven or eight years ago.

'I hope I'll be competing,' he said. 'I've been playing some sets over the last few days and had no bad reaction on my wrist. Every day it gets better and if I have no bad reaction tomorrow or Monday after practice then I hope to play.

'I don't think it's a hard decision. If I don't feel I'm fit enough to play and give 100 per cent, then I won't play. I'm not going to stress about it. If my wrist isn't right, it's not right.

'But, you know, I'm hoping that it is going to be OK. I put in a lot of hard work over the last five-and-a-half, six weeks to try to get it ready. I wouldn't want to waste all that work by going out and doing something stupid.'

Murray said he had spoken to his doctor and taken advice from physios, who all told him they were confident he could not reinjure the wrist.

He rejected the idea that the injury had occurred because he played with too heavy a racket. 'My racket weighs 365 grams, which is probably five grams heavier than Federer's. I'd probably say it's slightly above average. But Sampras played with I think 400 grams. Brad [Gilbert, his coach] played with 410 grams. The range for the guys is between 330-370 grams. Some guys are obviously heavier than that. I'd say it's nothing to do with that.'

Murray is the only seeded Brit in either singles draw now that Henman has slipped right down the rankings - he was 78 last week, a number that will be revised tomorrow. Henman's opener is against Carlos Moya, the Spaniard whom he beat in the final when he claimed his first tour title in Sydney 10 years ago.

Moya, 30, won a grand-slam title in 1998, the French Open, and remains a formidable competitor on clay but his match-up on grass with Henman is a close one to call. Two wins and Henman could end up playing Murray.

For the first time, this year the entire Center Court crowd will be exposed to the elements. The old roof was stripped over the winter as the first phase of putting on a retractable replacement that will be completed by 2009. Showing a commercial acumen for which they have not always been renowned, Wimbledon have agreed with Garnier Ambre Solaire for them to become the official sun care supplier for the tournament - just in case the sun shines.