Andy Murray: Two-time Wimbledon champion pulls out of singles after back surgery

Andy Murray won't be playing in the men's individual tournament at Wimbledon this year, but he will still be participating in the doubles competition alongside his brother Jamie.

The two-time winner of the Wimbledon tennis tournament was unsure if they would be able to participate after having surgery to remove a cyst from their spine.

Murray was set to play against Czech player Tomas Machac in the first round on Tuesday, and he was given the last match on Centre Court by the organizers.

Although he practiced on Monday and waited until Tuesday morning to make a decision, just a few hours before his first match, he has decided to shift his attention to playing in the doubles tournament with his brother Jamie.

"Regrettably, even though Andy has put in a lot of effort into his rehabilitation since his surgery a little more than a week ago, he has made the tough choice to not participate in the singles event this year," as mentioned by Murray's support staff.

"He is very upset, but he has announced that he will still participate in the doubles with Jamie and is excited to compete in Wimbledon one final time."

Murray recently stated that he has no intentions of going to New York for the US Open, which will be shown live on Sky Sports starting on Monday August 26.

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The double Olympic gold medalist has been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. He will compete in both singles and doubles with Dan Evans at Roland Garros.

Murray has been removed from the competition and lucky loser David Goffin will take his place. Now, there will be more talks about how to honor him at the tournament, which will be a defining moment in his career.

"We have many plans ready to go. It's up to Andy to decide when we'll implement them, and we'll be prepared when that time comes," stated CEO Sally Bolton earlier this week.

There have been different discussions happening for a while now. Andy is mainly concentrating on his work and not paying attention to other matters.

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When he finally decides to retire and we all have the opportunity to honor him, I believe we will truly understand the impact he has had on not only tennis fans but also sports enthusiasts in the UK. I predict there will be tears shed by many.

Murray first played at Wimbledon in 2005 when he was just 18 years old. He made it to the third round and has since played a total of 74 singles matches, winning 61 of them.

He won his first championship in 2013 with a very emotional win against Novak Djokovic, and then went on to win the trophy again in 2016.

In 2012, he cried on the main tennis court after losing to Roger Federer in the final, but a few weeks later he defeated Federer on the same court to win Olympic gold with one of his best performances ever.

His last singles match at the All England Club ended in a heartbreaking defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, lasting two days and going to five sets.

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