Andy Murray pulls out of Queen’s second round injured

Andy Murray pulled out of his second-round match against Australian Jordan Thompson at Queen’s Club against Australian Jordan Thompson after five games injured on Wednesday, with an apparent recurrence of a lower back problem that he says has been bothering him for several weeks.

Murray appeared to move gingerly from the first substitution, shuffling awkwardly around the net after being broken in the opening play of the match.

At 1-2, after holding his serve while barely able to complete a full move, he requested a medical timeout, with a physio massaging his lower back as he lay on the court.

Murray then returned to the grass, but continued to struggle with movement – ​​without help from a ruthless Thompson, who teased him to the front of the pitch with a drop shot that drew empathetic groans from the crowd, followed by another that made it 3-1 lap. 0-15 on Murray’s serve.

A double fault gave the Australian another break, with Murray sitting dejected in his chair at 1-4 and calling the coach to the field again before shaking hands with Thompson.

After the match, Murray revealed that he had experienced “loss of strength in my right leg” as well as the recurrence of the back injury. “So no motor control, no coordination, couldn’t move,” he said.

Murray was forced to withdraw from the match (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

He confirmed that the problem had started before he even stepped onto the field, saying that “during my pre-match warm-up today I felt quite comfortable.

“And when I walked up the stairs before going onto the field, I didn’t have the usual strength in my right leg.

“It wasn’t the usual feeling and when the first two balls in the warm-up my right leg was so uncoordinated,”

The five-time Queen champion described the injury as a ‘nervous discomfort’ and said he would have to undergo a scan tomorrow, Thursday, to assess what can be done between now and Wimbledon, which starts on July 1.

In turn, Thompson was impressively composed in the face of one of the most confusing aspects of being a tennis player: facing someone who can’t really move without thinking about what to do about it.

“I thought, hit the ball in and let it run,” said the Australian, who will face Milos Raonic or Taylor Fritz in the next round.

“I actually learned that from him, when he was playing, if a guy was hurt or cramped or something, he would always use a drop shot or just try to pick up the line.

“I think that’s the advantage of being a lot younger than him and seeing him play.”

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(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)