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
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.
