Former world No.1 Andy Murray have withdrawn from the Wimbledon championships over concerns about his current level of fitness.
The three-time grand slam champion was set to play France’s Benoit Paire in the first round on Tuesday in what would have been his first grand slam match in almost a year. Murray has decided to pull out of the event because he feels best-of-five matches would be too demanding for him at this stage of his recovery. The Brit underwent hip surgery in January.
“It’s with regret I’m withdrawing from Wimbledon. I’ve made significant progress in practice and matches over the last 10 days but, after lengthy discussions with my team and with a heavy heart, we’ve decided that playing best-of-five-set matches might be a bit too soon in the recovery process.” Murray said in a statement released on Sunday afternoon.
“We did everything we could to try to be ready in time. I will start practising on the hard courts from tomorrow and continuing with my rehab and recovery and I’m looking forward to the US hard-court season.
“Thanks for all the messages of support and I’m excited to finally be back playing after so long out.”
Leading into the upcoming grand slam there has been mixed messages about if Murray will play at Wimbledon or not. On Saturday he remained cautious about his appearance at the event. Saying he would play at the major ‘unless in the next couple of days he wakes up and don’t feel good.’ It was during that same day he was seen on the practice courts hitting with Diego Schwartzman, who is seeded 14th in this year’s tournament.
Murray returned to competitive tennis at the start of June following an 11-month hiatus from the tour. He started his comeback at the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s where he lost in three close sets to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios. A week later, Murray scored his first win of the season. Defeating Stan Wawrinka in the first round at Eastbourne before losing in the second round to Kyle Edmund.
Since making his debut at the All England Club in 2005, this is only the second time Murray has missed Wimbledon. The first was in 2007 due to a wrist injury. He will be replaced in the draw by Jason Jung, who is the seventh lucky loser to make it into the men’s draw.
The tournament will get underway on Monday.
