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Andy Murray hoping to ‘still play’ Wimbledon after ‘awkward’ retirement


Andy Murray has admitted that he wished he had not taken to the court at Queen’s Club, after retiring from his second round match with a pre-existing back injury.

Murray appeared to be struggling during his warm-up with opponent Jordan Thompson, and this continued into the match with the Brit going down an early break.

The 37-year-old called for a physio at 2-1 in the first set, but decided to continue on before calling it a day at the next change of ends.

It is not the first time that Murray has had back issues in recent times, with the former No.1 also withdrawing from defending his title in Surbiton due to this.

“I’ve been struggling with my back for a while,” Murray told press after the match. “I had pain in my right leg, no motor control, no coordination. And yeah, couldn’t move.

“My back has been a problem for quite a while, it’s been sore in the build-up to the tournament and was pretty sore in my match yesterday and sore through today – but I was able to manage it. It was not comfortable playing, but I was able to manage it.”

After having time to reflect following leaving the court, Murray admitted that he wished he had not attempted to play the second round match at Queen’s.

“During my pre-match warm-up, I was pretty uncomfortable and then I walked up the stairs to go out on court and didn’t have normal strength in my right leg, not a usual feeling,” explained Murray. “The first two balls I hit in the warm-up, my right leg was so uncoordinated. My leg was not working properly.”

He continued, “I wish I hadn’t gone on court to be honest. I didn’t realise until I was walking to go on court. In hindsight I wish I hadn’t gone on there. It was pretty awkward for everyone, nothing I can do.”

It is set to be Murray’s final appearance at Queen’s Club, with the record five-time singles champion expected to end his professional career after either Wimbledon or the Olympics.

And Murray is set to undergo a scan later today, with Wimbledon getting underway in under two weeks.

However, the three-time major winner appears hopeful that he can still make one final appearance at SW19, “Let’s hope it will be okay with some rest and treatment, and I’ll still be able to play [at Wimbledon]. I don’t know exactly what the problem is. I hadn’t experienced that before. I have no idea how long it will take to get better and what the treatment options are.”

Wimbledon begins on Monday 1st July, with Murray set to play in both singles and doubles with brother Jamie Murray.

Inside the baseline…

It is a really sad way for Andy Murray to go out at Queen’s, and maybe in hindsight he should have left it on his first round victory over Alexei Popyrin. However, Murray being Murray will have wanted to continue fighting and relish his home crowd for the last few tournaments of his decorated career. Hopefully it was just discomfort and after some treatment on his back Murray will be fighting fit enough to compete at Wimbledon in under two weeks time.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.