World No. 3 Andy Murray is unsure whether he will be able to recover in time to compete at the 2014 Australian Open.

Murray, who had back surgery last month, told reporters after receiving the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal by Prince William that he is going to be cautious.

“I hope so, but I’m not going to come back unless I’m 100 percent fit. I’ve got a long way to go yet,” he said. “I’ve been in the swimming pool and on the bike a little bit but it’s still going to be four or five weeks until I’m back on the tennis court hitting some balls. The rehab process is pretty tedious and long and I don’t want to come back too soon and have to start that process all over again. I’ll only come back when I’m 100 percent fit and I hope that’s at the beginning of the year.”

Murray is scheduled to play an exhibition at the Dream Cup in Barbados from November 28 to December 1, and another exo at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, December 26-28. His first scheduled ATP event is Doha, which begins on December 30.

On the day he received his OBE, Murray was almost late, as drug testers showed up at his door 10 minutes before his cab was scheduled to take him to Buckingham Palace.