Andy Murray 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 right 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. It was Murray’s first retirement in 11 years and he will have a scan on his back on Thursday.
Murray waved to the 10,000-capacity crowd after the match, signaling his goodbye to a tournament he has won five times. He admitted to the media afterwards that he is unsure whether he’ll play at Wimbledon, which starts on 1 July, but stated he has been having issues with his back “for a while.”
Asked whether he will play at Wimbledon, he said: “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get the right side of my back treated after the French Open [a few weeks ago]. All tennis players have degenerative joints in the back but it’s all predominantly been left-sided for me, for pretty much my whole career. I’ve never had too many issues with the right side.
“Maybe there’s something which can be done between now and then with my right side - will have a scan tomorrow and re-check and see what can be done. I don’t know exactly what the problem is. I just know I haven’t experienced that before - the back pain today and yesterday. I don’t know what the procedure will be or what to expect.”
Murray was set to play an exhibition event in Hurlingham next week before Wimbledon, potentially his final tournament before retirement. The former world No 1 has been plagued by fitness issues since injuring his back in 2017.
“I’ve been struggling with my back for a while,” he added. “I had pain in my right leg, no motor control, no co-ordination. And yeah, couldn’t move.
“My back has been a problem for quite a while, it’s been sore in the build-up to the tournament and was pretty sore in my match yesterday and sore through today - but I was able to manage it. It was not comfortable playing, but I was able to manage it.
“During my pre-match warm-up, I was pretty uncomfortable and then I walked up the stairs to go out on court and didn’t have normal strength in my right leg, not a usual feeling. The first two balls I hit in the warm-up, my right leg was so uncordinated. My leg was not working properly.
“I wish I hadn’t gone on court to be honest. I didn’t realise until I was walking to go on court. In hindsight I wish I hadn’t gone on there. It was pretty awkward for everyone, nothing I can do.”
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.
