Former world No.1 Andy Murray says part of the decision why he withdrew from playing singles at the Tokyo Olympics is linked to a pledge he made prior to the Games.
Earlier this week the Brit pulled out of the draw in order to focus on the doubles due to a minor quad issue which was picked up by medical scans. Although Murray insists that the injury isn’t substantial and hasn’t been causing him any trouble during practice. He is already a two-time Olympic champion and is the only player in history to have defended a singles title.
“I’ve had a bit of an issue with my quad. It’s actually not really been causing me many issues on the court like in practice or anything, there was just some stuff showing on the scans that made all the medical team a bit wary about it,” Murray said via the Olympic News Service.
The four-time Grand Slam champion is playing doubles alongside Joe Salisbury and the duo has already caused a shock in the tournament by knocking out second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round. They continued their winning run on Tuesday by defeating the German pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz 6-2, 7-6(2).
“I said to Joe that if he picked me to play doubles with him then I’d prioritise the doubles over the singles if I had any physical issues and that was the case,” Murray explains.
“It’s disappointing for me because I do feel like I’ve been playing well, and I’ve loved the Olympics and I would’ve liked the opportunity to defend my title. But that wasn’t to be and now all the focus and energy goes towards the doubles and to try our best to get a medal there.”
Should Murray and Salisbury medal at the Games they would be only the second British men’s pairing to do so since the sport was reintroduced back into the Olympics in 1988. The first was Tim Henman and Neil Broad who won silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
There is also an extra incentive for Murray. Should he collect another piece of silverware he would become only the fourth man in history to have won a fourth medal in tennis. Besides his two golds, he has also won silver in the mixed doubles back in 2012.
“I said I’d like to play with Andy, obviously the great player that he is, and he’s done so well in the Olympics before. It’s a really special event and I felt like we had a great opportunity to do really well,” Salisbury commented.
“It’s only two matches but, we’re feeling good, feel like we’re playing well, we’re playing well together as a team so, we’ve got to keep going.”
