Andy Murray announces ‘very difficult’ decision as he confirms if this will be his last Wimbledon
Andy Murray has taken the “very difficult decision” to withdraw from the singles event at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, but he will still compete in doubles with his brother Jamie.
The British tennis legend is “extremely disappointed” he will miss out on playing in singles as he also confirmed this will be his last Wimbledon appearance.
Murray was set to face world No 39 Tomas Machac in the opening round of the men’s singles tournament at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The three-time Grand Slam champion had an operation to remove a cyst from his back just over a week before the start of the event and, last week, he outlined his plan to make a last-minute decision on his participation.
The former world No 1 was forced to retire from his second round match against Jordan Thompson at the Queen’s Club Championships last month due to the back injury.
Leading tennis voice reflects on what might have been for Andy Murray
Murray’s decision means the final singles match of his Wimbledon career was his five-set set defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of the 2023 Championships.
The 37-year-old will partner his brother Jamie Murray in the Wimbledon men’s doubles event for the first time, with the pair set to face the Australian duo of Rinky Hijikata and John Peers in the first round.
The Murray brothers have previously joined forces in doubles at various other tournaments, including the Davis Cup and the Olympics. Their most recent outing came at the Washington Open in 2019.
On Tuesday morning, Murray’s management team revealed the news in a statement: “Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year.
“As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.”
No Andy Murray in the Wimbledon singles this year… but we’ll always have this moment from 2013. ❤️❤️❤️#BBCTennis #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/KMN8qwLi2v
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 2, 2024
Murray is a two-time Wimbledon champion, having triumphed at the All England Club in 2013 and 2016. His first victory at the grass-court Grand Slam ended a 77-year wait for a male British champion at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray: Former British No 1’s back ‘very grateful’ crowd to give Brit epic Wimbledon farewell
