Andy Murray has withdrawn from a US Open warm-up event through injury just weeks before the final Grand Slam of the year is due to begin.
The former British No1 handed Italy’s seventh seed Jannik Sinner an 11th-hour walkover into the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open after suffering from an abdominal strain, making an on-court announcement to fans shortly before the match was scheduled to start.
Murray had reached the third round of the Masters 1000 event in Toronto by beating Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets and then holding off a spirited fightback from Australian qualifier Max Purcell, but Sinner will now face Gael Monfils for a place in the final four.
Murray, a three-time winner of the Canadian Open in 2009, 2010 and 2015, will hope to shake off his latest familiar fitness issue in time for the final major of the year at the US Open, which begins at Flushing Meadows in New York on August 28.
It remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to play any part in another key hardcourt warm-up event, the Cincinnati Masters, which starts on Sunday.
“There is an issue with my abdominal so unfortunately I am not going to be able to play this evening. I’m really sorry. I know I feel like I have let you down,” an emotional Murray told fans in Toronto on Thursday night.
“I’ve rarely been in this situation in my career and I feel terrible.”
He later added: “I had a very similar issue last year in the tournament in Stuttgart before Wimbledon which forced me to miss the Queen’s Club tournament and I was able to play Wimbledon.
“It took me about 10 to 12 days before I was feeling good again. This is not as bad as that but obviously the danger if you compete and play on it is you make it worse.
“So, I’ll need to see how it develops over the coming days and hopefully feel better in a few days. I’m really sorry. Thank you.”
