Andy Murray's Wimbledon 2024 hopes crushed: Brit withdraws from singles; will partner brother Jamie in doubles "for the last time" before retirement
Andy Murray has withdrawn from the singles event at Wimbledon owing to his back surgery. The two-time champion, however, will feature in the doubles event with his brother Jamie as his final act at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
The 37-year-old is set to retire later in the season and this year's Wimbledon was supposed to be his last. On June 22, Murray had undergone back surgery to remove a cyst from his spinal cord. There were reports after his surgery which suggested that he would withdraw from Wimbledon.
However, these reports were quashed by the Brit's team. His mother Judy expressed her disappointment at the fact that the Brit's 'private medical details' were 'leaked'. In a statement released by Murray's team at the time, they asserted that he was working on his recovery, and no decision was made regarding his withdrawal.
On Tuesday, July 2, when Murray was scheduled to take to Centre Court for his first-round match against Tomas Machac, his team released a statement announcing his withdrawal from the singles event.
"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," his management team said 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."
The Wimbledon organizers also expressed their disappointment in a statement via their Instagram story and wrote:
"Andy- we're sorry to hear you won't be playing singles this year. We are so looking forward to seeing you compete in the doubles and celebrating all the memories you have given us."
Andy Murray joins forces with brother Jamie for the first time at Wimbledon
Andy Murray and his brother Jamie have played the doubles event together multiple times for Great Britain at the Olympics and the Davis Cup. However, this will be the first time the brother duo joins forces to play at Wimbledon as they have received a wildcard entry into the draw.
Neither has won the men's doubles at Wimbledon but Jamie has achieved success in the mixed doubles event with triumphs in 2007 with Jelena Janković, and 2017 with Martina Hingis. Jamie reached the men's doubles finals in 2015 with John Peers but faced defeat against the pair of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău.
The doubles event at 2024 Wimbledon is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 3. Andy Murray is also scheduled to represent Great Britain at the Paris Olympics, slated to begin later this month.