Andy Murray explains reasoning behind Wimbledon withdrawal

Andy Murray says he decided to pull out of Wimbledon this year as he didn’t want to make the same mistake he made last year.

The two-time SW19 winner went into last year’s tournament at the All England Club with a hip problem, but made it to the quarter-final before being knocked out by American Sam Querrey.

He ended up doing more damage to his hip during his run and spent 11 months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery in January.

The 31-year-old made his long-awaited comeback at Queen’s Club a fortnight ago and then also competed at Eastbourne last week. He initially indicated that he would play at Wimbledon this year, but then made a U-turn on Sunday as he felt he wasn’t ready.

“I spoke to my team, my coach and the physio, after I finished press, sort of saying how I was feeling about things and kind of got their thoughts,” he told Heraldscotland.com.

“We’ve been speaking pretty much every day about who I’m feeling in terms of my hip and how I’m getting on physically. [On Sunday] I spoke with all of my team and my doctor as well, just to get his view on things.

“I was just sort of feeling that I was not ready and willing to play – not necessarily to take a chance. When I was getting asked about certain things, it was just quite unknown. I didn’t know how I was going to respond to playing five-set matches. I went through a similar situation last year when I went into Wimbledon.

“I didn’t feel good before Wimbledon last year but decided to play. I know how that ended up. There was a bit of that in the back of my mind as well, thinking like: ‘Let’s sure make sure I don’t make a mistake’. I’ve made progress in the last month which hadn’t really been the case for the last 10 or 11 months. I was going in the right direction. I’m putting myself in a situation that I haven’t been able to replicate in training or in practice recently. Which is a maybe a bit unnecessary to do that at this stage.”

As for the future, Murray is confident he will play at Wimbledon again and be able to compete against the best players.

“I believe I will be back at Wimbledon for sure. In terms of getting back to the top of the game, I am not basing that on ranking, I am basing that on how competitive I feel I can be against the best players in the world,” he said.

“I will make changes to my schedule and things to try and look after my body better. I will certainly not be having any ends to the season like I did in 2016 when I am playing and winning matches every single week and not stopping for a break. I will be making sure when I am training I am not putting lots of load through my body.

“I will be working hard but not killing my body in training blocks either. Providing I am smart with those things, I believe I will be able to compete. I feel there is still a lot more progress I can make physically from where I was before and during Queens in the last few weeks. So if I can get myself fit and healthy I believe that my tennis will get there and it won’t take that long to get back.”

Andy Murray ATP Tour Wimbledon

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