LONDON: Andy Murray’s hopes of bowing out from tennis at this year’s Wimbledon were left in severe doubt after a back injury forced him to retire from a second-round match at Queen’s on Wednesday.

The British tennis great is now set to und­ergo a scan after lasting a mere five games against Australian Jordan Thompson.

Murray was in evident pain right from his first serve, when his right leg and hip seemed to buckle underneath him.

Murray had prolonged treatment after three games on his right hip — which he had replaced in 2019 — his right knee and his lower back.

Murray briefly played on but eventually withdrew at 4-1 down, with the record five-time Queen’s champion receiving sympathetic applause from spectators as he waved to a crowd.

Wimbledon is now less than a fortnight away but Murray, twice a champion on the grass of the All England Club, refused to rule out one last appearance.

“During my pre-match warm-up I was pretty uncomfortable and then I walked up the stairs, just before going on the court, I didn’t have the normal strength in my right leg,” Murray told reporters.

“Then the first two balls I hit in the warm-up, my right leg, it was, like, so uncoordinated. I had no coordination. Then, yeah, my right leg just was not working properly.

“In hindsight I wish I hadn’t gone on there because it was pretty awkward for everyone.

“There is nothing I could do, and then there is part of you that wants to go out there and see if it gets better, you know, and maybe feel better with a bit of treatment or something, but that wasn’t the case.”

The former world number one has spoken of wanting to retire either after Wimbledon or the Paris Olympics, with Murray a two-time gold medallist.

But pressed on whether he might now mi­ss Wimbledon, Murray replied: “I wouldn’t know.

“Like all tennis players, we have degenerative sort of joints and stuff in the back but it’s all predominantly been left-sided for me my whole career. I have never had too many issues with the right side.

“So maybe there is something that can be done between now and then, you know, to help the right side.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Korda advanced into the last eight with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over 2014 Queen’s champion Grigor Dimitrov, the third seed.

Korda will next play Rinky Hijikata after the Australian qualifier defeated Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (9/7).

Taylor Fritz, the fourth seed, beat Milos Raonic — who lost the 2016 Wimbledon final to Murray — 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2024