More bad news for British tennis as Andy Murray is forced to retire injured from his second-round match at the Cinch Championships when facing Jordan Thompson in what is expected to be the Scot’s last appearance at Queen’s.
I don’t know exactly what the problem is. I hadn’t experienced that before. I have no idea how long it will take to get better and what the treatment options are Andy Murray
For Murray, who has struggled with a back problem over the last few months and ruptured ankle ligaments during the season, it is another blow to his preparations for Wimbledon and the Olympic Games as he joins his doubles partner for the Games, in A&E.
The mystery is when he picked up the injury before retiring in the sixth game as it was evident he was struggling even during the warm-up.
“Let’s hope it will be okay with some rest and treatment, and I’ll still be able to play [at Wimbledon],” Murray said afterwards.
“I don’t know exactly what the problem is. I hadn’t experienced that before. I have no idea how long it will take to get better and what the treatment options are.
“When I walked up the stairs before going out, and in the pre-match warm-up, my back was uncomfortable.
“It was an awkward atmosphere because everyone could see there was a problem, and I didn’t know if I should play or stop. It’s disappointing. In hindsight I wish I hadn’t gone on the court.”
He did make the effort but virtually immediately, found himself behind as Thompson took full advantage of his sluggish movement and while the crowd did everything to try and lift him, it wasn’t until the third game that he made an impression on the scoreboard.
T was then that Murray called for the trainer and while he received treatment with a medical time-out for his lower back, he did continue but following a consultation with the trainer at 4-1, he decided to call it a day and get proper treatment in an attempt to ensure he plays The Championships which begin on July 1.
Jordan Thompson (L) consoles Andy Murray
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
“Never the way you want to go through, especially with a champion like Andy,” the Australian said on reaching quarter finals at Queen’s for the first time.
“This tournament, he’s dominated, he loves the grass.”
In other action Sebastian Korda required nearly two hours to get past the 2015 Queen’s champion, the third seeded Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria, in what was a high-quality tennis match.
He won 6-4 3-6 7-5 and will now meet the Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata who survived two tight tiebreak sets 7-6(5) 7-6(7) against Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
The last singles match of the day featured two 6’5’’ big servers in Taylor Fritz of the US and his Canadian neighbour Milos Raonic in a match where breaks of serve were extremely scarce.
Fritz did put up three break points early in the second set but managed to hang on to but with the match careering towards a second tiebreak, Fritz did capture the booming Raonic serve for the only break of the contest to take a 5-4 lead.
The fourth seeded American duly served it out for a 7-6(5) 6-4 win and set up an intriguing quarter-final against Thompson.
Andy Murray waves goodbye
(Photo by Hannah Fountain – CameraSport via Getty Images)
