Murray does it tough with Wimbledon pullout

Andy Murray lost his chance for what was expected to be a career Wimbledon farewell, with the injured Scot pulling from his opening match on Tuesday.

The painful decision by the two-time tournament winner and beloved British hero came only hours before the former No. 1 was due to take to the court in the first round against Czech Tomas Machac 

His place of honour on Centre Court was taken by rising local hope Jack Draper, who will start his campaign against Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer.

The son of a farmer tennis administrator won the Stuttgart grass title last month in a career breakthrough and now ranks 28th in the world

Murray’s corporate handlers broke the bad news with a statement:

“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 (brother) Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.

Murray was trying against the odds to recover from keyhole surgery to remove a cyst on his spinal column performed only 10 days ago.

He had a Monday hit on the grass totalling 90 minutes, which helped him in finally deciding to pack it in. He reportedly had major difficulty in reaching shots on his backhand side.

“It was alright, yeah,” the three-time grand Slam winner told British media. “I’m going to have a chat with my team now and speak to my family this evening and then make a decision. 

“It is getting better. And the testing and stuff I have done is good. I just need to decide whether it is enough to compete, really.”