Two-time Wimbledon champion and former world number one Andy Murray has withdrawn from the singles event at this year's Grand Slam due to a back injury, his team has confirmed.
The 37-year-old had been doing everything in his power to be fit for the Championships after suffering a back injury in his second-round Queen's match with Jordan Thompson last month and was due to face Tomas Machac in Tuesday's first-round tie.
Following his withdrawal from Queen's, Murray - who admitted that he had been plagued by back pain for the best part of a decade - underwent an operation to remove a spinal cyst, plunging his hopes of an appearance at SW19 into serious doubt.
Reports had claimed that the 2013 and 2016 winner would not be competing at the 2024 iteration, speculation that was slammed as untrue by Murray's entourage, including his mother Judy Murray, who insisted that no decision had been made just yet.
However, despite ramping up his preparations in practice, Murray has been cruelly denied the chance to play in the Wimbledon singles for the last time ahead of his expected retirement later in the year.
The 37-year-old's Grand Slam journey is not entirely finished, though, as he will be teaming up with brother Jamie Murray for the men's doubles event, which his team have confirmed will be his farewell appearance at Wimbledon.
© Reuters
Murray "extremely disappointed" to withdraw from singles
"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," a statement read.
"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."
The Murray brother will be entering the men's doubles draw as wild cards and are due to play their first-round match tomorrow morning, facing Australian pair Rinky Hijikata and John Peers.
Following his final bid for another slice of Wimbledon stardom, Murray is expected to retire after the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he will compete in both the singles and the men's doubles, the latter alongside Dan Evans.
The former British and world number one headlines a few high-profile withdrawals from the Wimbledon singles events, as Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka were among the players to pull out of the competition on Monday.
However, Emma Raducanu was among the victors on the first day of action at SW19, where Romanian 29th seed Sorana Cirstea was stunned by British qualifier Sonay Kartal.
Ben Knapton
