Andy Murray's team have confirmed that he will undergo an operation on the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Queen's Club Championships, mere days before his expected Wimbledon farewell.
The former British and world number one was forced to retire from his contest with Jordan Thompson after just five games, having looked uncomfortable throughout the entirety of the short-lived affair.
Murray had looked strong in a three-set success over Australia's Alexei Popyrin in round one, but he was visibly worse for wear on Wednesday, where he received treatment before having to call it a day.
The 37-year-old - who is expected to call time on his career once the summer is over - admitted afterwards that he had no power in his right leg, and back pain had been plaguing him for the best part of a decade.
Murray's retirement at Queen's - where he has won an unrivalled five singles titles - immediately sparked fears that he could be forced to miss Wimbledon and may have therefore played at SW19 for the final time.
A statement from Murray's management team confirmed that the three-time major winner would be going under the knife on Saturday, but they did not give a recovery timeframe, saying: "Andy is having a procedure on his back tomorrow. We will know more after this has taken place and will update further as soon as possible."
Could Murray still play at Wimbledon?
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Murray's back issue flaring up means that the 37-year-old has now suffered two crushing injury blows in the 2024 season, having also spent several weeks out with the ankle issue he sustained at the Miami Open.
As Murray aficionados will know, though, he has not been the same since 2017 and is certainly in the twilight of his professional career, which has been anticipated to end after the Paris Olympics.
While there have been no specifics on the nature of Murray's injury or operation, the Briton is seemingly still in with a fighting chance of one last dance at SW19, but one should not expect him to be in tip-top shape if he does risk it.
Murray became Great Britain's first Wimbledon men's singles winner in 77 years when he defeated Novak Djokovic at the 2013 Championships, before winning his third and most recent major title at the 2016 edition over Milos Raonic.
Queen's resumed without its record five-time winner on Friday, where Billy Harris was denied a first-ever ATP Tour semi-final owing to a 3-6 5-7 loss to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti on his top-level quarter-final debut.
Meanwhile, new British number one Jack Draper fought back from a set down against the USA's Tommy Paul but saw his seven-match winning streak end in a 3-6 7-5 4-6 defeat.
Ben Knapton
![Andy Murray reacts at Queen's on June 19, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/11/29/1x1.gif?w=1&h=1 "Andy Murray reacts at Queen's on June 19, 2024 [IMAGO]")
