After undergoing surgery 10 days ago due to a back issue, Andy Murray has decided to skip this year’s solo competition at Wimbledon and instead focus his farewell on the doubles alongside his older brother Jamie. Murray, who won the championship in both 2013 and 2016, was anticipated to square off against Tomas Machac from the Czech Republic on Centre Court yesterday. “Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year,” says Murray’s team in a statement. “As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.”
In order to have some closure at the All England Club before stopping playing professionally, Murray has given himself as much time as possible to prepare for what will be an emotional goodbye. However, the Scotsman’s plans were affected by the back issue, which flared up earlier this summer and forced his retirement from his match against Australia’s Jordan Thompson at Queen’s on 19 June after just five games. Even though he’s been struggling with injuries this year, Murray doesn’t plan to retire before playing some more. After winning Olympic gold on Centre Court at London 2012, he wants to have some closure at Wimbledon or the Olympics before officially calling it quits, as he said earlier this year.
Although Murray appeared to be back in training with former British number one Kyle Edmund on Monday, leading 6-3 2-0 in a practice match before the duo stopped, he announced in the morning on Tuesday that he would focus on the doubles. The Murray brothers have never played together at the Championships; however, Andy, 32, and 38-year-old Jamie represented Great Britain in doubles at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the All England Club, losing in the first round.
On Sunday, Murray stated that the surgical area did not hurt, but also added that he didn’t have full sensation in his leg yet. Murray has been chosen to participate for Great Britain in the Paris Games in August, the tennis event, which begins on the 27th of July on the clay courts at Roland Garros
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