Andy Murray has been one of the unluckiest tennis players in recent memory, having given everything to the sport, and in return seen his body ravaged.
Hip injuries are unfortunately commonplace in a sport so reliant on explosive movements, but few have suffered like the Scotsman, who was even forced to undergo Birmingham hip resurfacing in 2019.
Predicted that his career was over, the fact that he still plays today is hugely admirable, even if his form is faltering.
However, yesterday at Queen’s marked a dark day, as his match with Jordan Thompson was brutally cut short due to another flare-up in that sore spot.
John Lloyd makes Andy Murray Wimbledon prediction
Speaking to BBC Sport just yesterday, the pundits cut grieving figures after watching Murray hobble around the Queen’s court before his retirement.
It did mark a sorry sight, to see the tournament’s greatest-ever champion, having won the event an impressive five times, fail to make it past six games before calling the clash.
He had looked severely hampered even before his match began, and as soon as he started serving in the first game, his issues became abundantly clear.
And now, with his Wimbledon future in jeopardy, pundit John Lloyd has made a bold prediction: ‘I saw him in the locker room and said hello and he was walking around and can you tell, but he certainly didn’t look as stiff as we saw walking down the stairs.
‘So I think he did in when he was walking down the stairs or just before it or in the beginning of the warm-up because he wouldn’t have gone on court if he was that bad, there’s no way.
‘The only good thing is that when the trainer was doing his check-in, he would have said quit right away if it was anything major. He didn’t so they obviously thought they could manipulate it a little bit and get it okay. I would imagine this is not something that will stop him playing [Wimbledon]. I’m just speculating with my knowledge.’
This was made all the more frustrating given Murray actually beat Carlos Alcaraz in a pre-tournament practise set.
Yesterday’s Andy Murray Queen’s match was so tough to watch
As aforementioned, those five games which Murray did play in were incredibly tough to watch.
Seldom before has a player so hampered by injury inexplicably continued to play, and despite calling for the physio mid-way through his brief spell on court, it was not enough.
He has since admitted that the pain came on the right-hand side of his back, which resulted in a large loss of mobility to that leg. Quite a scary thing to happen to a man where the bulk of his problems have come from his left hip.
Ironically enough, he still managed to which a service game, with Thompson’s returning somewhat lacklustre as he seemed just as bemused and unsettled as the deathly silent crowd.
But it was not enough to spark any kind of comeback, and now with just 11 days until Wimbledon, it is a race against time to see if the 37-year-old can complete one final miracle before his time in the sport is up.
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