Andy Murray doubtful for Wimbledon, reflects on mid-match retirement struggles in Queen's Club Championships
Jun 20, 2024
London [UK], June 20 : After retiring from the second round of the Queen's Club Championships due to struggles with his back the three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray revealed how concerning the injury is and will undergo a scan to determine which will decide whether he would play at the upcoming Wimbledon 2024.
Three-time Grand Slam champion retired from the second-round match against Jordan Thompson after five games due to struggles with his back.
"Obviously it wasn't great. I have been struggling with my back for a while. I had loss of power in my right leg. So loss of motor control, had no coordination. Yeah, couldn't move," Murray said as quoted by ATP.
Dealing with the back was not new to Murray, the 37-year-old revealed that leading up to the match the ATP 500 it was sore. Murray withdrew from his second-round match against Jordan Thompson while behind 4-1 in the opening set. After three games, he had treatment for sore hips and lower back. Later on, it was established that Murray had a back problem.
"It was pretty sore in my match yesterday. Yeah, it was sore through today. But I was able to manage it. I wasn't comfortable playing, but I was able to manage it. During my pre-match warmup, I was pretty uncomfortable, and then I walked up the stairs just before going on the court, I didn't have the usual, just normal strength in my right leg. It was not a usual feeling," Murray said.
"I don't know how many of you were watching, but the first two balls I hit in the warmup, my right leg, it was so uncoordinated. I had no coordination. Right leg just was not working properly," said the 37-year-old.
Murray said he dealt with back problems for about the past 10 years.
"I don't know exactly what the problem is. I just know that this is not something -- I hadn't experienced that before. [I have been] dealing with the back pain today, yesterday, and for the last 10, 11 years of my career, but I have never experienced that before. So I don't know what the procedure will be or what to expect, really," Murray added.
The 37-year-old hopes to participate in what is likely to be his final Grand Slam match at Wimbledon, which gets underway on July 1. However, a scan will be performed to ascertain the severity of the issue that caused the two-time SW19 champion's right leg to become numb immediately before he entered Centre Court.
"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. It was not a usual feeling. 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," Murray said as quoted by Skysports.
"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," he added.