Andy Murray men's singles career at Wimbledon is OVER as Scot withdraws from first round clash with Tomas Machac after failing to recover in time from spinal cyst injury

Andy Murray has played his final singles match at Wimbledon after pulling outMurray said he wanted to 'feel the buzz' of Centre Court at Wimbledon again It was touch and go as he underwent surgery in the lead up to the tournament

Andy Murray has played his last singles match at Wimbledon, after the two time champion this morning took the 'very difficult' decision to withdraw from his first round.

A statement from the 37-year-old's team read: 'Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year.

'As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.'

That means that Murray's five-set defeat by Stefanos Tsitsipas on Centre Court in the second round last year will go down as his last singles match at the All England Club.

Murray was reduced to a hobbling wreck at the Queen's Club two weeks ago when a cyst which had been growing on his spine and pressing on his nerve suddenly immobilized his right leg.

Murray underwent surgery to remove a spinal cyst following retirement at Queen's (pictured) which put his participation in the men's singles at Wimbledon in real jeopardy

The Scot had an operation to remove the cyst on July 22 and has been battling against long odds since in the hope of playing in the singles here one final time.

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Andy Murray reveals he is eager to 'feel the buzz' of Centre Court again as he faces Wimbledon wait

He has said the nerve pain has been reducing every day and he has played a few sets in practice, but it was clear on Monday that his movement was still significantly reduced.

Last week, in the Scot's first press conference since spinal surgery to remove a cyst, he said: 'I have just been trying to do everything I can to try and get ready to start the tournament here. I don't know if that's going to be enough.

'Like I said a few days ago, I want to give it every single chance that I can to get there.'

One of the dilemmas for Murray has been balancing his appetite to play on Centre Court again, while also recognising that he wants to play in the knowledge that he has the capability of playing well.

It is undoubtedly a serious blow to the tournament.

'We would love to see him on court,' said Bolton. 'Of course, if he isn't, we've got plenty of other tennis going on, but I know the fans will be absolutely desperate to see him play so we wish him well in getting on court.'

Murray confirmed last week that he is planning for Wimbledon and the Olympics to be the final events of his career.

Ahead of this tournament getting underway, and with Murray's place in the singles in doubt, John McEnroe reiterated calls for a statue of Murray to be unveiled at Wimbledon to honour the triple Grand Slam winner's achievements in the sport.

There has long been talk over a statue of the Scot in the grounds of the All England Club, where in 2013 he became the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. In McEnroe's mind, the right outcome is clear.

'If I was making that decision, I would say absolutely yes because that's a long drought, 77 years,' said McEnroe, a three-time champion at SW19, who is part of the BBC 's coverage once again this summer.

Andy Murray became the first British men's champion since Fred Perry to lift the trophy at Wimbledon in 2013

Murray will make a late call on whether he will take on Tomas Machac in the first round

'He's absolutely changed the way people look at British tennis. He's one of the greatest competitors that I've ever seen play tennis.

'It'd be well deserved and it'd be awesome, because two of his three Grand Slam wins (2013 and 2016) were at Wimbledon plus the Olympics (gold medal in 2012).

'He was part of the 'big four' and he finished 2016 as the best player in the world.

'It's unfortunate that injuries (mean) you don't hear about him the same way he did before. It is like the 'big three' now.

'There's the saying that I've used many times: 'The older I get, the better I used to be'. And unfortunately, when you have injuries, it's pretty damn hard, if not impossible to get to that level where you were.'