LONDON — Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will only play doubles in his final match at the All England Club after withdrawing from singles on Tuesday, exactly a week after undergoing back surgery.
The 37-year-old Murray withdrew from his singles match just hours before he was scheduled to face Tomas Maczak on Centre Court.
“Unfortunately, despite having undergone surgery just over a week ago and working hard to recover, Andy has made the very difficult decision to not play in singles this year,” his management team said in a statement. “As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but remains committed to playing doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing one last time at Wimbledon.”
Murray underwent surgery to remove a cyst on his spinal cord on June 22.
Murray has said he wants to retire after the Paris Olympics, which begin later this month.
He has never made it past the second round in a Grand Slam men’s doubles match.
He has been plagued by injuries in recent years, including two surgeries for hip problems.
Murray stopped playing during the second round of a grass-court tournament at London’s Queens Club last month because he had trouble walking, explaining afterwards that a cyst was pressing on a nerve in his back, leaving his right leg paralyzed.
Murray has won three major championships, the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. With his 2013 victory, Murray became the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon singles title.
He has reached No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is the only player to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals in tennis singles: he won in London 2012 (the Summer Olympic matches were held at the All England Club) and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Murray underwent hip surgery in 2018 and 2019. He thought he would have to retire after the second operation to get a metal hip implant, but he eventually returned.
He has been plagued by problems since then, including tearing ligaments in his left ankle at the Miami Open in March.
Murray lost in the first round of the French Open in May.
He has been training at the All England Club in recent days and undergoing a medical check to see if he will be fit to take part in what is expected to be his final match before Wimbledon.
