Andy Murray withdraws from final Hurlingham match as hip fears grow ahead of Wimbledon defence

Andy Murray’s defence of his Wimbledon title was cast into further doubt today when he was forced to pull out of his final warm-up match in London.

The world No1 had been scheduled to play at the Aspall Classic at The Hurlingham Club tomorrow against an unnamed opponent but withdrew today because of ongoing soreness in his hip.

It was the same complaint that forced him to miss out on a previous warm-up match at the same venue on Tuesday, although at the time his team had said his withdrawal was only precautionary.

But today Murray said: “Sadly, I won’t be ready to play at The Hurlingham tomorrow, my hip is still sore and I need to rest it today, and likely tomorrow.”

Fears have escalated all week over his fitness first following the initial Hurlingham withdrawal and further when he failed to show for either of his planned practice sessions at the All England Club yesterday.

Then he withdrew from a charity hit with former British No1 Tim Henman later in the day, and could only watch from the stands as coach Jamie Delgado stepped in.

Murray is instead believed to have received gyrotonic treatment, known as “yoga for dancers” at Fulham Football Club in a bid to improve his flexibility, and will continue to undergo treatment as the clock ticks towards Wimbledon.

Despite the latest injury scare in a season littered with injury and illness setbacks, he is still expected to line up at Wimbledon on the opening day on Monday.

But question marks remain over the ability of the Scot’s body to being able to withstand the rigours of the Grand Slam fortnight.

Who he faces in his side of the draw with be announced by Wimbledon officials tomorrow but his build-up to his home Grand Slam has been far from perfect.

This season he has struggled with illness – contracting shingles after the Australian Open – and injury but appeared to have put fitness doubts behind him earlier this month with a run to the semi-finals of the French Open, where he narrowly missed out on a place in the final after a five-set epic against Stan Wawrinka.

But then at Queen’s – an event he has won each time he has won Wimbledon and a trophy he has lifted on five occasions in all – a lacklustre performance saw him knocked out by Jordan Thompson, who was only drafted in at the last minute following the late withdrawal of Aljaz Bedene with injury.

Murray has habitually turned to the practice courts after Queen’s but, because of a lack of match competition, he lined up two games at the Aspall Classic.

The first against Lucas Pouille he had to withdraw from earlier this week meaning he has had just one match on grass to prepare for the third Grand Slam.

The Murray camp, however, will take solace from the fact that he was not fully fit and firing at the start of the French Open having been sick beforehand but played himself into form in the early rounds.

A repeat of similar proportions would be needed at present for Murray to have aspirations to play late into the second week at SW19.