The last dream has vanished at Wimbledon: the Scottish champion Andy Murray has released some statements to the BBC that explained how his decision to not play the London Major in the men’s singles, but only in doubles with his brother Jamie, matured. Murray should have made his debut in the first round yesterday afternoon as his last match against the Czech Tomas Machac but a few hours before the match he announced his withdrawal. Murray has not recovered from yet another injury that forced him to withdraw a few weeks ago at the Queen’s Club Championships and to have to undergo surgery.
“I decided not to play. I slept on it, then I told my team and my family that I didn’t think I was going to play. The decision was based on how I felt going into the match. I actually trained and I was playing quite well but I just wasn’t happy with the way my leg was. I wanted to sleep on it and make sure I was happy with the decision, and also give myself a chance when I woke up to see if I felt better. I did a bit of running home when I got up in the morning but I didn’t feel the way I wanted. I worked really hard to give myself a chance to play and yeah, it was the right decision,” he explained.
Murray, who has retired from singles, will play doubles with his brother Jamie.
“I’m disappointed. I wanted to play in the tournament. I wanted to have the chance to step onto Centre Court and give it another try. But I would have done it only if I felt I could be competitive and I didn’t feel that. I wanted that moment too, both for myself and for the people who have supported me over the years, the fans but also my closest friends, family, my team, it was important for me to do the same for them too. But nothing, the timing wasn’t the best, the surgery was complex. It simply wasn’t supposed to be,” he added.
The Scot, on the eve of Wimbledon, had made it clear how he would decide whether or not to play just a few hours before his match on thr Centre Court.
“It’s been a very tough ten days since Queen’s. I had a back operation that was not insignificant. I’ve tried to do everything I could to be able to play this tournament. I don’t know if it will be enough. I’ve been training the last few days, I played a practice set today and things went quite well. I still don’t feel 100%, especially because of the leg problem. It’s getting better, but tomorrow I’ll play another set and do some tests. I’ll probably make a decision in the afternoon. I don’t have any back pain, which is very positive. The problem is that I had a fairly large cyst that was compressing the nerves, making me lose a lot of control in my right leg. I hope that all the work will be enough to be on court on Tuesday. What will determine whether I can play or not will be the state of my leg.
Every day that passes it seems more likely that I can play. It’s impossible to give confirmation. I don’t want to go through the same situation as Queen’s, where I went on court, felt strange and couldn’t compete. Doubles with Jamie? I’ve already talked about it with my brother, we are aware of the situation. It’s not easy for my family either, everyone close to me wants to see me play here again, we’ve overcome all this together. What motivates me to try? The opportunity to play here again, probably for the last time. This is a place where I’ve had great moments in recent years. We’ve seen Serena Williams and Roger Federer retire. Rafael Nadal has spoken openly about all his problems. Everyone has an idea of how they want to end their career: my idea is for it to happen at Wimbledon. Of course there are also the Olympics, but I would like to have the opportunity to play here one more time. I’m looking for a worthy conclusion and then turn the page. I want to play on Centre Court and feel that adrenaline again,” he analyzed.
