Andy Murray could only manage five games before injury forced him to retire from his second-round match at Queen’s on Wednesday, casting a shadow over a possible farewell appearance for the British tennis great at Wimbledon.
Following his very first serve of the match, against Australia’s Jordan Thompson, the 37-year-old Murray’s hip and right leg seemed to give way.
He served out the game, virtually on one leg, and after dropping the first two games he held for 1-2.
Murray had a medical time-out at the changeover where his right hip, which he had replaced in 2019, and right knee were given vigorous treatment.
Murray, twice a Wimbledon champion and five times a Queen’s winner, came out to play the fourth game but was unable to chase down anything out of reach and rolled in first serves at under 100 mph (160 kph).
The Scot, who looked in pain at times during his first-round win over Alexei Popyrin in this grass-court warm-up for Wimbledon on Tuesday, eventually retired at 4-1 down with the official explanation a back injury.
Fitness problems have been an issue for Murray in what is set to be the former world number one’s final year on tour and could now scupper hopes of a possible last appearance at Wimbledon, which starts in under a fortnight.
Back in 2017, when he was defending the last of his five Queen’s titles, Murray was defeated by lucky loser Thompson as the hip injury which would eventually require drastic surgery first started to have an effect.
The 30-year-old Thompson, speaking after Wednesday’s brief encounter with the three-time Grand Slam winner, said: “I could see he had a problem in the warm-up and then his first serve.
“I thought, ‘hit the ball in and make him run’. I actually learned that from him, when he was playing, and if a guy was hurt or cramping or something, he’d always use a drop shot or just try and take it up the line.”
He added: “I learned a lot of things watching him play, so it’s an honour to share the court with him, but it’s just sad that it ended like that.”
Korda knocks out Dimitrov
Meanwhile, Sebastian Korda maintained his impressive start to the grass-court season as he defeated former champion Grigor Dimitrov, the third seed, with a hard-fought win.
The 23-year-old American advanced into the last eight with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over his Bulgarian opponent, who took the Queen’s title back in 2014.
“It was a big struggle,” said Korda. “We were both serving well and waiting for our chances and there weren’t many.
“But when they came, I tried to take them,” added Korda, beaten in last week’s final at ‘s-Hertogenbosch -- another warm-up event for Wimbledon -- by Australia’s Alex De Minaur.
Korda will next play Rinky Hijikata after the Australian qualifier defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (9/7) to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season.
Carlos Alcaraz, the defending Queen’s champion who won his third Grand Slam at the French Open earlier this month, was due on court later Wednesday to face Britain’s Jack Draper.
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