Andy Murray will not play in the singles at Wimbledon after failing to recover from surgery in time to face Tomas Machac but he will compete in the doubles alongside his brother Jamie.
Murray has been fighting to return to readiness for what is set to be his last Wimbledon, after having an operation on a spinal cyst just nine days ago.
The Scot had said that he had earned the right to leave it until the last minute to decide if he was fit enough to play, with the draw and schedule giving him an extra day to prove his readiness.
On Tuesday morning, hours before he was due to face world number 39 Machac, it was revealed that he isn’t fit enough to compete, though he does plan to take part in the doubles competition with his brother Jamie later in the week.
A spokesperson said: “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.
“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.”
Murray had Murray reflected on a “good” workout after playing a practice match against Kyle Edmund on Monday and said he would speak to his team before reaching a final decision.
After taking extra time to make up his mind, he decided on Tuesday that playing what would have been a final singles competition at the famous venue would not be possible.
The Scot has been open about his wish to bow out properly as he prepares to retire this summer.
The three-time Grand Slam title winner has endured a difficult time with injury, fitness and form since hip surgery in 2018 and the 37-year-old sees Wimbledon and this summer’s Paris Olympics as his final major tournaments, having expressed a desire for a “competitive” farewell.
Speaking on Sunday, he spoke of the importance of Wimbledon in his career and his desire for the All England Club to be a prominent part of his goodbye to playing at the top level.
“This is a place that’s obviously been really good to me over the years,” he said.
“The last few years you’ve had Serena (Williams) finishing playing, Roger finished playing, and Rafa (Nadal) obviously has spoken a lot recently about the struggles he’s gone through.
“Everyone has their idea of how they want to finish their career, how they would want it to go.
“My idea of that would be, I probably would have seen that happening at Wimbledon. Obviously I have the Olympics coming up. But I would love the opportunity to play here one more time.
“That’s what I’m looking to get out of it. Whether afterwards I feel like that’s the right thing to do, I don’t know. But right now I feel like I want that opportunity.”
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