Murray hip injury scare before SW19

Andy Murray yesterday pulled out of his scheduled Wimbledon warm-up match at the Hurlingham Club because of a sore hip.

The world No 1 and defending champion in SW19 had scheduled two matches at the exhibition Aspall Tennis Classic event following his suprise first-round exit to Jordan Thompson at Queen’s Club last week. He had been due to take on Frenchman Lucas Pouille, but his management announced that he would not take to the court because his hip was “a bit sore”. The decision was described as a precaution, with Murray still planning to contest his second match against an as-yet-unnamed opponent on Friday. But it is not the preparation the Scot would have wanted with just five days until the third major tournament of the season.

Murray’s year so far has been a difficult one, punctuated with health problems, including shingles, and an elbow injury.

One of Murray’s big Wimbledon rivals, Novak Djokovic, also had his preparations disrupted when heavy rain caused play at Eastbourne to be cancelled. The Serb, 30, had taken the first game against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil and was 30-15 up in the second when the rain came.