Andy Murray retirement latest after breaking down in tears and Wimbledon heartache

Andy Murray has pulled out from the Wimbledon singles five years after he'd planned to bid farewell to his career at the iconic Grand Slam.

On Tuesday (July 2), Murray confirmed that he won't be able to compete in the singles at the All England Club due to his inability to fully recover after undergoing spinal cyst surgery. He was initially slated to go up against Tomas Machac in the opening round.

Despite bowing out of the singles, the 37-year-old plans on taking part in the doubles event alongside his brother, Jamie. This will presumably be his final Wimbledon showdown given his retirement plans after the Paris Olympics as long as he's fit enough to participate.

A statement released by his team read: "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."

Over the past few years, frequent hip and back injuries have been a bane for Murray. A particular low point was when he almost yielded to these issues over half a decade ago. In 2019, he broke down into tears as he announced his ambitions to wrap up his illustrious career at Wimbledon.

During a press conference ahead of the Australian Open, the Scotsman admitted: "I've pretty much done everything that I could to try and get my hip feeling better and it hasn't helped loads. I'm in a better place than I was six months ago but still in a lot of pain. It's been tough."

Murray opened up last Saturday about the emotional weight of potentially ending his career at Wimbledon, a venue that holds his greatest triumphs. "The opportunity to play here again for the last time, that's kind of it. This is a place that's obviously been really good to me over the years," he reflected.

He harboured hopes of a final Wimbledon appearance: "My idea would have seen that happening probably 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."

Murray also expressed his desire for closure: "I'm hoping for, when it comes to the end, maybe a bit of closure. I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there hopefully on Centre Court and feel that buzz. Whether afterwards I feel it was the right thing to do or not, I don't know. But right now I feel like I want that opportunity."