Murray’s regrets over Wimbledon

Scot decides to miss tournament over fitness concerns

Andy Murray has announced his withdrawal from Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament.

The two-time champion had been due to play Benoit Paire in the first round tomorrow and spoke positively about his prospects at a press conference on Saturday, but he has decided best-of-five-set tennis is too demanding at this stage of his comeback from hip surgery.

Murray said in a statement: “It’s with regret I’m withdrawing from Wimbledon.

“I’ve made significant progress in practice and matches over the last 10 days but, after lengthy discussions with my team and with a heavy heart, we’ve decided that playing best-of-five-set matches might be a bit too soon in the recovery process.

“We did everything we could to try to be ready in time. I will start practising on the hard courts from tomorrow and continuing with my rehab and recovery and I’m looking forward to the US hard-court season.

“Thanks for all the messages of support and I’m excited to finally be back playing after so long out.”

Following hip surgery in January, Murray finally returned to the match court at Queen’s Club two weeks ago, losing a close encounter to Australian Nick Kyrgios.

He then took a wild card into the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne and defeated Stan Wawrinka before losing to Kyle Edmund, who has usurped him as British No 1.

Murray’s absence from the practice schedule at the All England Club yesterday hinted that all might not be well but the news still comes as a surprise given his public confidence that he would play.

It is the fourth straight grand slam Murray has withdrawn from after his hip problems first became apparent at Wimbledon last summer and means he will miss his home major for the first time since a wrist injury kept him away in 2007.

Speaking on Saturday, Murray said: “Unless in the next couple of days I wake up and don’t feel good (I’ll play). Through all of this, I have to view it very much day by day, just as a process.”

The 31-year-old, whose ranking will plummet to outside the top 800, is next scheduled to play at the Citi Open in Washington beginning on July 30.

Murray, winner in 2013 and 2016, beaten finalist in 2012 and four-times semi-finalist, has been replaced in the Wimbledon draw by lucky loser Jason Jung from Chinese Taipei.