Andy Murray sparks major Wimbledon fears after retiring injured at Queen’s Club
Andy Murray was forced to retire from his match against Jordan Thompson at Queen’s Club due to an injury, raising concerns over his hopes of competing at Wimbledon.
The British legend was trailing 1-4 in the first set of his second round contest against world No 43 Thompson when he withdrew.
Murray looked physically compromised when he walked out onto court and was in visible discomfort from the very start of the match as he attempted to play through the injury.
The three-time Grand Slam champion received treatment on what appeared to be a back injury before deciding he could not play any longer.
An emotional Murray walked to the middle of the court and waved farewell to the crowd following his retirement from the match.
Tough viewing
Andy Murray is forced to retire and waves goodbye to the tournament that has given him so much #CinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/cwHC5E370R
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 19, 2024
This could be interpreted as the five-time Queen’s champion thanking the crowd for the final time in what may prove to be his last appearance at the event.
Andy Murray is not looking forward to retirement but hints at when he might quit
In his opening match at Queen’s on Tuesday, Murray produced his best display since suffering an ankle injury at the Miami Open in March. The two-time Olympic gold medallist defeated world No 48 Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
After Murray’s retirement against Thompson, former world No 21 John Lloyd discussed the prospect of Murray missing this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
“Another injury and also best of five sets as well, that makes it doubly harder,” Lloyd said on the BBC’s broadcast. “Obviously, because you’re gonna be prepared to go out on the court for a four, five hour match possibly, and then do the same thing in two days’ time.
“It’s gonna be rough for him. But if he can, he will play at Wimbledon. There’s no question about it. Even if he’s on a walking stick, he’s gonna try and play out there. There’s no doubt about it.
“There is enough time, unless it’s something major, which I really believe it isn’t. He will play at Wimbledon, I have no doubt he’s gonna try under all circumstances.
“And hopefully he’ll get a decent draw and whatever that end is, it’ll be a fitting end and not something like today. At least he played one match where he played fabulously, but this was a terrible way for him to go out. He will hate it.”
The 2024 edition of Wimbledon will get underway on July 1, leaving Murray with less than two weeks to recover.
