Andy Murray pulls out of Wimbledon singles but commits to doubles
Andy Murray working in practice before deciding to pull out of the men’s singles. Photograph: Javier García/Shutterstock
Andy Murray’s Wimbledon singles career has come to an end after he was forced to withdraw from the men’s draw at his final championships on the morning of his scheduled first round match against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic as he was unable to sufficiently recover from the back surgery he underwent 10 days ago. Murray, however, has confirmed that he will compete alongside his brother, Jamie, in the men’s doubles competition when it begins this week.
In a statement, Murray’s representatives said: “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.”
Murray’s preparations for his final Wimbledon had suffered a painful blow two weeks ago when the 37-year-old was forced to withdraw from Queen’s due to pain and numbness in his back and right leg. Murray soon underwent back surgery to remove a spinal cyst, which had been compressing nerves in his back.
Even though some doctors had suggested that it would take as much as six to 12 weeks for Murray to recover from his surgery, the Scot has since been rushing to recover in time to compete in his scheduled first round match against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic. Murray was fit enough to train on-site and in full view of the media over the past few days and he was even winning convincingly against Kyle Edmund when their practice match was stopped at the end of their court time.
But the challenge of facing a top player in Machac, who is ranked No 39, and doing so across the best of five sets format was ultimately too much. After he retired at Queen’s following five painful games Murray said afterwards that he wished he had never taken to the court as it was an incredibly awkward spectacle for the audience and fans. If he had played at Wimbledon and was unable to be competitive, his final memory on centre court would have been similarly painful.
“When it comes to the end, I don’t know, maybe a bit of closure,” Murray said on his hopes for Wimbledon. “I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there hopefully on Centre Court, and I don’t know, feel that buzz. Like last year, I wasn’t planning on it being my last year on the tour. I wanted to come back and play again, whereas this year I have no plans to do that. Yeah, it’s coming to the end of my career and I want to have that opportunity to play here again.”
Murray also carried the risk of reopening the wound from the keyhole surgery he underwent on his back, although he had suggested that he was okay with assuming those risks. “From discussions that I’ve had with my surgeon and the medical experts that are around me, the biggest risk is sort of from the wound perspective, sort of a reopening of the wound,” said Murray. “My spine is strong and stable. The inflammation is coming down every single day. There’s been minimal disruption to the muscles and everything. Yeah, the issue would be if the wound, which is extremely small, it was a keyhole operation, if that was to reopen, I would then have to go and have that sorted. But I’m okay with that, with that risk.”
During his pre-tournament press conference, Murray said his frantic attempts to recover in time to compete in the singles draw were motivated by the simple hope of competing at Wimbledon one last time before he retired. Murray won two of his three grand slam titles at Wimbledon, becoming the first man in 77 years to win the title in 2013 before he did so again. He also won an Olympic singles gold medal at Wimbledon during London 2012.
Instead, those hopes were not fulfilled. Murray will, however, still enjoy a sentimental farewell alongside his older brother, Jamie, who is 38 and a former doubles No 1. The pair played against each other throughout their childhood before they rose to become the best player in the world in their respective disciplines. Now Murray will say farewell to Wimbledon alongside his brother.
As he has waited until the last moment to make his decision on his participation at Wimbledon, Murray has categorically confirmed this week that he will not play on after this summer. His final scheduled tournament is the Olympic games in Paris at Roland Garros, where he is a two-time singles gold medalist and a mixed doubles silver medalist. After an incredibly difficult week, Murray did receive some good news on Monday as he was confirmed in the doubles draw alongside Dan Evans in addition to the singles competition.