Andy Murray’s participation at one final Wimbledon Championships this summer has been thrown into new doubt after his Queen’s Club farewell was ruined by injury.
The three-time Grand Slam winner retired hurt from his last-16 match while trailing 4-1 in the opening set against Jordan Thompson at the Cinch Championships on Wednesday afternoon, handing the Australian a walkover into the quarter-finals.
Murray - who beat Alexei Popyrin in three sets in the first round at Queen’s on Tuesday - did not look comfortable throughout the short-lived match in West Kensington, receiving an early medical timeout where he seemed to have attention on his back, right hip and right knee while led at the side of the grass court.
He tried to play on, but quickly called it quits after only five games and received a warm ovation as he waved goodbye to the Queen’s crowd likely for the last time.
Murray holds the record for the most titles ever at Queen’s, having won the singles competition five times at the Wimbledon warm-up event during his illustrious career and the doubles once.
Those latest injury issues will also lead to real concerns over his participation at Wimbledon, where he had been expected to play for likely the final time at the Championships which begin on July 1.
The two-time SW19 winner, who ended Great Britain’s 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion at Wimbledon in 2013 before winning the title again in 2016 to go along with his 2012 US Open success, is expected to retire from professional tennis after 20 years later this summer.
On Sunday he was named in the Team GB squad for next month’s Olympic Games, having been given a wildcard for the singles competition as a result of his status as a previous gold-medal winner at London 2012.
However, it remained to be seen if he would compete in Paris at all amid uncertainty over the men’s doubles and playing partner Dan Evans having also retired injured at Queen’s on Tuesday after suffering a knee issue during an on-court slip in his first-round match against Brandon Nakashima.
Murray’s latest injury will only increase doubts over his Olympic participation as well as that at Wimbledon. The Paris Games are due to start on July 26.
