Andy Murray has withdrawn from Wimbledon singles and has said he will still compete at the tournament, but only in doubles with his brother Jamie.
The 37-year-old had a cyst removed from his spine on June 22 and does not feel fully recovered enough to compete in the singles bracket. Murray has stated that he plans to retire after this month’s Olympic Games in Paris, so this will be his last time at Wimbledon.
Murray, who will be replaced by Belgian David Goffin, was due to face Czech Tomas Machac in the first round on Centre Court on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, despite Andy having worked incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, he has made the very difficult decision not to play in singles this year,” Murray’s team said in a statement. “As you can imagine he is hugely disappointed but he has confirmed that he will play in doubles with Jamie and he is looking forward to competing for the final time at Wimbledon.”
Andy Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion in addition to his 2012 US Open title, discovered the cyst after this year’s French Open. Over time, the cyst had grown, affecting his coordination and causing pain in his back and right leg. The pain caused him to withdraw from the grass-court tournament at Queen’s Club in London on June 19. The cyst was removed three days later.
On Sunday, Murray spoke about his dream farewell to the All-England Club.
“I hope that when it does come, it’s a bit of closure. I just want to get a chance to play one more time, hopefully on Centre Court, and … feel that buzz,” Murray said. “Last year I didn’t plan on it being my last year on tour. I wanted to come back and play one more time. Whereas this year I have no plans to do that. It’s nearing the end of my career.”
Murray still has his sights set on both the singles and doubles competitions at this summer’s Olympics. He won gold medals at the 2012 London Games and Rio 2016. He will monitor his health between the time he finishes Wimbledon and when he prepares for Paris, as he plans to retire.
“I can’t say for sure that if I couldn’t play Wimbledon and I couldn’t recover in time to play the Olympics that I wouldn’t consider playing a tournament somewhere else,” Murray said Sunday. “But if I can play Wimbledon and if I can play the Olympics, then that’s probably the end of it, yes.”
Jamie Murray, 38, is a two-time Grand Slam doubles winner. In 2016 he won both the Australian and US Opens with playing partner Bruno Soares.
