Great Britain's Andy Murray has pulled out of Wimbledon after failing to recover from a wrist injury. Murray had left his decision to the last minute in order to give himself the best possible chance of playing.

But after an indoor session at Roehampton on Sunday the 20-year-old said he feared he would do further damage to his wrist if he played.

"The doctor has advised me not to play and that I probably need about 10 days to be ready," said Murray.
"Unfortunately, I don't think it is going to rain for the next 10 days.

"I have done everything possible to get ready for Wimbledon. I have played practice sets the last few days but still cannot hit a top-spin forehand properly.

"It has been six weeks of really hard work but I'm not 100% ready."

Murray injured the wrist playing a routine forehand in the Hamburg Masters on 15 May, his 20th birthday.

It was soon apparent that he would not be fit for the French Open but he retained hopes of being able to compete at Wimbledon.

His wrist still had not healed in time for him to play in any of the traditional Wimbledon warm-up events but he remained optimistic of being fit right up until Sunday when he announced his withdrawal.

"The wrist is a very important part of tennis and there are a number of players who have made the decision to come back too soon and ended up with long-term injuries," added Murray.

"I do not want to take the risk and make the same mistake.

"I love playing Wimbledon because of the great support I get from the British public and that is what I will miss the most."

Murray has been replaced by American Kevin Kim in the draw, leaving Tim Henman to spearhead the British men's challenge once again following the retirement of Greg Rusedski.

The four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist has won just two matches on the ATP Tour all year, and faces a tough first-round match against veteran Spaniard Carlos Moya.

There are three other British men are due in action on the opening day.

Josh Goodall and Jamie Baker - two of five British male wildcards along with Alex Bogdanovic, Richard Bloomfield and Jonathan Marray - are scheduled to play Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin respectively.

Fellow Briton Lee Childs, who came through the qualifying tournament, will take on another qualifier, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan.

Courtesy bbc.co.uk

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