Andy Murray injured at Queen’s to cast doubts on Wimbledon swansong

In what is likely a harrowing final chapter at a tournament that has brought him so much joy throughout his career, Andy Murray was forced to retire from his second-round match at Queen’s Club on Wednesday afternoon while trailing Jordan Thompson of Australia 1-4 after struggling with a back injury from the beginning of the match.

The injury leaves Murray, a five-time champion at Queen’s Club, facing the worst possible scenario in probably the last grass-court season of his career. Less than two weeks before Wimbledon begins, the 37-year-old now faces a race to be fit enough to compete at Wimbledon for a final time.

From Murray’s first serve on the opening point on Wednesday, it was clear that something was wrong. Instead of leaping back into a split step and chasing down the second ball, Murray bent over, drawing a gasp from the crowd as Thompson’s slow return of serve rolled past him as a clean winner.

During the first few games, Murray was unable to move at all, let alone to chase down balls against a quality grass-court player who defeated Holger Rune, the seventh seed, in the first round. As he watched the balls fly by him, while serving with limited motion, Thompson rolled through the opening few service games. Despite his struggles, Murray managed to find some first serves in his second service game and after some unforced errors from an unsettled Thompson, Murray somehow won a game.

At the first change of ends, Murray called for the trainer and after a lengthy assessment period, he received a medical timeout for his lower back. He emerged from the treatment slightly more mobile but still unable to move at the standard required of a professional tennis player. After quickly losing two further games, it was clear that Murray had little chance of winning and he retired.

Understandably devastated by his misfortune, Murray quickly packed up his bags and prepared to leave the centre court at Queen’s. As he departed, the packed crowd, which had watched the match unfold in silent horror, saluted the greatest British tennis player of the Open era with one last standing ovation.

While Murray’s body has been relatively resilient since the beginning of 2023, this year has been brutal. In March, just as he finally appeared to find some form after a difficult start to the season, Murray tore ankle ligaments during his third-round match at the Miami Open and was forced off the tour for six weeks.

Murray’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 first round win against Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday, his 1,000th official match on the ATP tour, marked his first ATP win since the injury and again seemed to represent real progress. Despite the win, Murray’s enthusiasm at his performance was muted and he had gestured to his back throughout the second set of the match. Recently, even his positive performances have left him with little reason to smile.