Nick Kyrgios has gotten his wish after asking Andy Murray to consider his long-term health when making his decision over whether to play at Wimbledon this year.
On the morning of what could have begun the Brit’s last tournament, Murray confirmed that he would be withdrawing from the singles competition, having undergone surgery to remove a spinal cyst only on Saturday, a few days before SW19.
A statement from Murray’s management company confirmed the news, with Kyrgios’ plea heard and Murray dropped out before he could do any lasting damage to his body.
“I don’t know much about it personally, but Andy Murray is a legend of this sport,” Kyrgios told the BBC on the opening day of the tournament. “He’s arguably one of the best to ever do it, so I completely understand him trying to get out here and get in front of his fans one last time.
“I don’t think I’ve played through something as severe as that. At the end of the day I’ve got a pretty good relationship with Andy, I don’t want him to do anything permanent to even affect his life after tennis.
“If he is feeling good enough to play some dubs (doubles) and get out there and give it one last push, I support it. But the way he is grimacing right now I’d say just wrap it up, get the legs up and enjoy it.”
Murray was set to play world No. 38 Tomas Machac on the evening session on Centre Court, but woke up in the morning and had to pull out of the competition.
The statement from his management company 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 and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.”
