Murray on the brink of missing Wimbledon

Britain's Davis Cup captain John Lloyd last night urged the Scot to place his long-term welfare ahead of the temptation, due to public demand, to declare himself fit for the 2007 Championships, which start three weeks tomorrow.

Scroll down to read more:

Play safe: Murray must take time to recover from wrist injury

"If Andy has injured tendons, or ligaments, it usually takes a minimum of two months to recover," said Lloyd.

"We all want to see Andy at Wimbledon but I'd hope he wouldn't jeopardise his long-term career to answer an obvious desire to get out there and play now.

"I am sure those closest to him will ensure all the proper precautions are taken."

British No 1 Murray has completed just one match in the past two months because of the injury and a series of other niggling problems.He was forced to pull out of the French Open in Paris and has had to put his career into cold storage at the height of the summer season.

Officials at the Artois Championships at Queen's Club, London — a critical barometer of grass-court form before Wimbledon — expect Murray to withdraw on Friday.

A catalogue of stars, including past Wimbledon champions Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, through to modern day players like Xavier Malisse and Nicolas Kiefer, can all testify that wrist injuries are not swift to heal.

Murray is believed to have dedicated himself to conditioning training but he has not been able to hit balls, leaving him desperately short of practice.

During his enforced lay-off he has fallen out of the top 10 but, with his favoured hard-court season in the United States still ahead after Wimbledon, Murray will be granted an opportunity to regain lost ground.

Murray's American coach,Brad Gilbert, has made no secret of their shared ambition for this year.

"Our goal from the beginning of 2007 has been for Andy to make the seasonend Masters in Shanghai for the world's top eight players," said Gilbert. "As he finished last year ranked No 17 that meant cutting Andy's ranking in half.

"Shanghai is a good working goal. If you put them too high, you can sometimes crash and burn.

"But that's not to say he can't do something special along the way. He's got a bit of talent and good things can happen — but it's also important to remember that Andy has time on his side."

Regrettably for Wimbledon, it seems, time is Andy Murray's worst enemy.