Hopes are rising that Andy Murray will be fit enough to play Wimbledon after encouraging reports about how he has been shaping up in practice.

According to one witness, Murray is moving 'surprisingly well' after being out of the game for nearly a year and having only returned to hitting balls barely a week ago.

A separate source close to the 31 year-old Scot's camp has indicated that his sparring sessions have gone sufficiently well to shift expectations that, barring further setbacks, he would be able to take his place in the draw for Wimbledon, which starts on July 2.

Andy Murray is moving 'surprisingly well' in practice as he bids to be fit for Wimbledon

Last Tuesday the twice All England Club champion pulled out of the ATP event in Rosmalen which starts on Monday, but he remains in the field for the Fever Tree Championships at London's Queen's Club taking place next week.

The official word from his management is that he will make a decision around Wednesday about his participation, and a return there has not been ruled out.

However, the 32-man field will be exceptionally strong at Queen's and it also comes not long after he was able to resume training following him stepping away from the court for most of May.

While Murray will not be seeded at Wimbledon, and therefore at the mercy of the draw, there is a decent chance of easier early round draws at SW19, with a large number of players far less naturally comfortable on the grass than he is.

There are also several exhibition events around the London area in the week prior to The Championships which would be happy to accommodate him if he wanted some sort of competitive build-up.

The 31-year-old is in good shape ahead of Wimbledon, which will get underway on July 2

Murray is known to have practised with British No 1 Kyle Edmund and American player Christian Harrison in the past week. A picture was posted of him and Harrison at Wimbledon's practice courts, with the Scot seeming to have shed weight.

After a succession of withdrawals his return would be welcome news for British tennis fans, who have not seen him since the Wimbledon quarter finals last year, apart from a charity match in Glasgow against Roger Federer in November.

Federer is more assuredly on the comeback trail and has been placed in the draw as top seed for the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, where he will play either a qualifier or Germany's Mischa Zverev after a first round bye.

The 36 year-old Swiss has not played since losing in the second round of the Miami Open on March 24 to young Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis. For the second year in succession he opted to miss the whole clay court season but has been busy preparing on hard and grass courts.

Dan Evans's run at the Surbiton Challenger came to an end when he was beaten 6-4, 7-6 by France's Jeremy Chardy, the world No 86 who has spent much of his career ranked inside the top 50.

Murray will hope that he is fit enough to compete to win Wimbledon for the third time

Making the semi-finals has, however, won him a 'Special Exempt' place in the main draw of Nottingham's Nature Valley Open next week.

Rafael Nadal will on Sunday attempt to win his 11th French Open title when he takes on Dominic Thiem, the player from the younger generation who has looked the most likely to one day succeed him.

ANDY MURRAY'S RECENT WIMBLEDON RECORD 2017 - Quarter-finals 2016 - Winner 2015 - Semi-finals 2014 - Quarter-finals 2013 - Winner Advertisement

It will be a first Grand Slam final for the 24 year-old number Austrian with the dashing single-handed backhand, seeking to emulate his compatriot Thomas Muster, who won in 1995.

Stopping Nadal would constitute a huge upset, but there is no doubt that he has been slightly more vulnerable en route to the final than he was a year ago.

In 2017 he lost only 35 games and no sets in his seven matches when taking the title with consummate ease, compared to dropping 48 already in 2018 and one set.

Simone Bolelli and the two Argentinians Diego Schwatzmann (who took a set) and Juan Martin Del Potro have all given him uncomfortable moments without being able to capitalise on them.

Nadal has saved nearly 80 per cent of the break points he has faced, but despite that his serve has been broken ten times in all, one more than his opponent on Sunday, who has already taken out the No 2 seed Alexander Zverev.

So Thiem may feel that there is an opportunity here, but Nadal's far greater experience means that over five sets that a wait for the changing of the guard is still by far the more likely outcome.