Andy Murray a major doubt for final Wimbledon after retiring at Queen’s

Andy Murray has retired from his second-round match at Queen’s Club on Wednesday due to a back injury, plunging his participation at his final Wimbledon Championships into major doubt.

The 37-year-old was hobbling throughout the warm-up and it was clear from the outset, when he could barely move from the baseline after serving, that the three-time Grand Slam champion was not in any condition to compete with Australian opponent Jordan Thompson.

After three games he took a medical timeout, with a physio working on his back and lower leg, and the two-time Wimbledon winner valiantly continued to play on until the change-of-ends after the fifth game, when the inevitable came and he shook hands.

Murray waved to the 10,000-capacity crowd after the match, signaling his goodbye to a tournament he has won five times.

This latest setback puts his next few weeks on the grass, and the finale to his illustrious career, into question. Murray was set to play an exhibition event in Hurlingham next week before Wimbledon, potentially his final tournament before retirement, starts on 1 July.

Murray has been plagued by fitness and injury issues since injuring his back while world No 1 in 2017 and, after the match, a Murray spokesperson stated that the official reason for his retirement was a back injury.

Murray, Britain’s greatest tennis player in the Open Era, stated before Queen’s that he is set to end his 20-year professional career this summer, either after Wimbledon or the Paris Olympics, and was penciled in to partner older brother Jamie in the doubles at the All England Club – the first time the pair would have combined at a Grand Slam tournament.

Murray won his first tour-level match in nearly three months on Tuesday, victorious in three sets against Alexei Popyrin after one hour and 51 minutes, and he showed no clear signs of discomfort afterwards.

Yet it was a different matter 24 hours later and Murray’s pain was clear from the first point, when he did not even attempt to move into position for a routine backhand after a Thompson return.

Murray did miraculously hold serve in the third game, but he was unable to chase down drop-shots with his usual speed and he also looked extremely precarious moving from side to side.

A retirement seemed inevitable and it came with Thompson leading 4-1 in the first set.

“It’s never the way you want to go through, especially against a great champion like Andy,” said Thompson.

“That’s no way to go out, especially for a great champion. I hope that’s not his last match [Queen’s] but I’m sure it won’t be. I’m sure we can hang around one more time.”

Murray was also set to play doubles this week at Queen’s but his partner, compatriot Dan Evans, sustained a right knee injury on Tuesday. Evans said he was “heartbroken” afterwards and will have a scan to determine the lay-off required.