Brits mourn Murray’s Wimbledon exit, but Draper saves the day

Andy Murray has played his last singles match at Wimbledon. And it wasn’t on Tuesday; it was 12 months ago in a dramatic five-set, second-round loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

In 2024 the 37-year-old ended up being unable to take the court. Murray, who sustained a back injury at Queen’s Club, held out hope until the last minute but decided to withdraw. The decision was announced on Tuesday morning, with Murray on tap to face Tomas Machac in the last match on. Centre Court.

“Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year,” a statement from Murray’s team read. “As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.”

At Queen’s Club last month Murray advanced one round (beat Alexei Popyrin) before retiring in the first set of his next match against Jordan Thompson. The former world No. 1 was hoping to improve enough to play Wimbledon, but he also didn’t want to test it if he was probably going to be a shadow of his real self–which was the case against Thompson at Queen’s Club. Ultimately, Murray did not have enough time.

“I’m hoping that, yeah, with each day that passes that the likelihood of me being able to play will increase,” the two-time Wimbledon winner said during his pre-tournament press conference. “Yeah, I mean, it’s impossible for me to say because I also want to go out there, like I said, and be able to play to a level that I’m happy with. I don’t want to be in a situation like at Queen’s; I don’t want to go on the court and it to be awkward or not be able to at least be competitive.

“I spoke to my brother about that. I’ve obviously spoken to my team about that. We’re all aware of the situation.”

While it wasn’t an entirely unexpected development, the day started with doom and gloom around the grounds. In addition to Murray’s exit, there were multiple rain delays on the outer courts. In between those delays, Brits Jan Choinski and Paul Chubb both lost five-setters.

But if the British mood was as bleak as the early-afternoon rain showers, a sunny late afternoon and evening turned things around for the host nation on and off the court. Britain’s best hope of all, Jack Draper, came to the rescue–much to the delight of the Centre Court crowd in addition to the throng of fans on Henman Hill.

Draper was surprisingly extended to five sets by Elias Ymer, but the young lefty came up with the goods when it mattered most to triumph 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a match that replaced Murray vs. Machac on the most famous court in tennis.

“It was good,” Draper reflected. “Obviously different playing on Centre Court; was expecting Court 2. I felt like my preparation has been great. Didn’t know what to expect from Elias Ymer. He came out firing. He was playing a great level. I think people have the narrative that only the top hundred players in the world or top-50 players in the world or top-20 players play great tennis. I think the world’s top 200 or 300 play unbelievable on their day.

“It was a really tough match…. I feel like I’m hitting the ball incredibly well. There were certain times in the match today where I think, ’cause you don’t often play on big courts, I haven’t experienced Centre too much, it’s a different feel. It’s not like the practice courts at Aorangi…. Yeah, (I’m) happy with the way I played. Privileged obviously to be on Centre.”

Draper may find himself on Centre again on Thursday, because fellow Brit Cameron Norrie also won on Tuesday evening and they will go head-to-head in round two.

It won’t be Murray, but at least one British man will be in the third round.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.