Andy Murray’s luck did not favor him yesterday on-court. After experiencing excruciating pain in the back once again, the former World No. 1 had to retire mid-match at the Queen’s Club Championships event in London. The Brit has been struggling with his back for over a decade now. As he steps closer to eventual retirement this summer, fans are concerned about his performance in the upcoming tournaments. However, according to former World No. 1, Andy Roddick, it was an “inevitable” occurrence.

On June 19, Tennis Channel Live Podcast released an episode titled, “The Countdown to Wimbledon, and Who Has the Best Net Game?” with Genie Bouchard, Andy Roddick, and Steve Weissman discussing the upcoming Wimbledon. During the first half of the segment, Weissman, the American sportscaster, said, “Andy Murray coming off winning his 1000th career match, Andy taking on Jordan Thompson. Unfortunately for Andy, the body would not hold up.”

Adding his thoughts on the matter, Roddick chimed in to add, “This just looked bad from the beginning and it is so unfortunate obviously. I don’t think he will take to court if he is not at this tournament specifically in London. But from the first point, you knew that this was inevitable.” Murray, who has previously won five Queen’s Club Championship titles, could not perform his best against Jordan Thompson due to his back and right leg issues. 

Leaving the match at 4-1, Murray, who won his 1000th career match the other day, later admitted, “I had loss of power in my right leg. So loss of motor control, had no coordination. Yeah, couldn’t move.” Referring to this in the podcast, Roddick further added, “It just didn’t look good. He just couldn’t move. You can’t compete on tour if you don’t have 50% of your body available..but hopefully he will be okay for the Wimbledon.”

The 37-year-old player later explained how he was struggling with his sore back in the first match against Alexei Popyrin as well. His discomfort grew, leading up to his latest match in London, where he revealed that he didn’t have his “usual strength” in his right leg. He also mentioned his lack of coordination, starting with the first two balls in the game yesterday. 

Although his back issue started in 2013, the Brit had it surgically repaired, after which he regained his form. Murray even went on to win the Wimbledon Championship later that year. However, time and again, his back issues resurfaced, raising concern about his on-court game. But, according to him, he has never experienced this kind of setback on-court ever before. Additionally, he also shed light on his physical struggles, which have been a huge concern for him lately.

Andy Murray considers tennis to be a “really hard sport” 

The three Grand Slam champion is all set to put his racquet to rest after the summer Olympics this season. Murray, who said earlier this year that, “this game is not for me anymore,” suffered from an ankle injury in Miami this year. As a result, he remained away from the spotlight for almost two months. Although The World No. 347 returned to France (Challenger Bordeaux) and went on to perform in four matches after Miami, his lack of form on-court has made fans worried. 

On top of that, Murray’s setback on-court yesterday added more to it. Referring to this, the two-time Wimbledon champion said, “Physically it’s been tough. A lot of days where it’s not been that much fun to train and practise and everything. But, yeah, obviously I have tried to work through it and find ways to get on the court and compete at this level. But tennis is a really, really hard sport.”

As Wimbledon looms large on the horizon, one question pops up in everyone’s mind. Will he be able to come back and perform in his last Wimbledon match this year? Only time will tell. However, like Andy Roddick said, tennis fans hope to see him back on-court soon!