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Andy Murray ‘sorry’ after withdrawing from Wimbledon singles draw


Andy Murray has detailed the reasons for his withdrawal from the Wimbledon singles draw, revealing that it was ‘probably a few days too soon’.

Murray was scheduled to compete against Tomas Machac on Centre Court today, but announced that he would be pulling out of the singles draw this morning.

This has come after Murray underwent a spinal procedure just over a week ago, after retiring from his second round match at Queen’s Club due to an ongoing back injury.

Confirming his withdrawal this morning, Murray’s management team 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.”

Murray has openly confessed that this will be his final Wimbledon Championships, with the two-time singles champion now only going to compete in doubles with brother Jamie in their first Grand Slam appearance as a team.

The former No.1 then spoke to the BBC about his withdrawal after practicing at SW19, with Murray apologising to fans who had hoped to see him one last time.

“I’m disappointed. I wanted to play in the tournament and I wanted to have a chance to go out there, walk out on my own on the Centre Court again and give it another go,” said Murray. “I also was only going to give it a go if I felt like I could be competitive and I didn’t feel like that today.

“I’m sorry for everyone who came and wanted to support and watch again. I wanted that moment as well, as much for me as for the people that have supported me over the years. The fans but also my closest friends, family, my team. It was important for me to do that with them as well. It was one of those things. Unfortunate. The timing was horrible, the surgery was a complex one and it wasn’t to be.”

Murray had wanted to leave his decision to the last moment, with the 37-year-old suggesting that it is actually his leg that is preventing him from being in competitive in singles.

“I decided this morning. I slept on it. I told my team and my family that I didn’t think I was going to play based on how I felt yesterday. I practiced pretty well. I was playing pretty good but I just wasn’t happy how my leg was feeling,” explained Murray. “I wanted to sleep on it and make sure I was happy with the decision and also to give myself a chance when I woke up this morning to see if it felt much better.”

He continued, “I ran around a bit at home this morning when I got up. Yeah, it just wasn’t where I wanted it to be unfortunately. Probably a few days too soon but I am proud, I worked extremely hard to at least give myself a chance to play. Yeah, it was the right decision.”

Murray is now set to compete in what could be his final Wimbledon match on either Thursday or Friday, alongside brother Jamie, against the Australian pairing of John Peers and Rinky Hijikata.

Inside the baseline…

It was a sad but unsurprising withdrawal from Andy Murray, with the back procedure just coming too late to allow him to be ready for the Wimbledon singles draw. As hard as it must have been for the two-time Wimbledon champion, the last time that Murray would want is to cause further damage to his back that could impact him in everyday life. Hopefully Murray can have the farewell he deserves at Wimbledon in doubles, which is very likely to be on Centre Court.

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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.