Two-time Gold Medalist Andy Murray explains why he opted out of the singles event in 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Two-time Gold Medalist Andy Murray explains why he opted out of the singles event in 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Andy Murray

Former World No.1 and Olympic legend Andy Murray has opened up on his logic behind his withdrawal from the singles event in the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The two-time Gold medalist in singles explained that he has was experiencing some quad issues, which forced him to focus only on the doubles event.

Murray further added that the discomfort was revealed during the scans, but insisted that it wasn’t a very serious issue either. Even today, the Scot is the only player in Olympics tennis history to have defended his Gold medal.

“I’ve had a bit of an issue with my quad. It’s actually not really been causing me many issues on the court like in practice or anything, there was just some stuff showing on the scans that made all the medical team a bit wary about it,” the three-time Grand Slam champion said via the Olympic News Service.

“I said to Joe that if he picked me to play doubles with him then I’d prioritise the doubles over the singles if I had any physical issues and that was the case,” the 34-year-old further explained. “It’s disappointing for me because I do feel like I’ve been playing well, and I’ve loved the Olympics and I would’ve liked the opportunity to defend my title. But that wasn’t to be and now all the focus and energy goes towards the doubles and to try our best to get a medal there.”

Unfortunately, Murray and his doubles partner Joe Salisbury lost 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 10-7 against Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig in the quarter-finals.

Murray and partner Salisbury exit men’s doubles at Olympics

Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury
Joe Salisbury and Andy Murray

Murray was last seen on the grass courts of Queen’s Club, followed by the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships, where he lost in the third round to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

Given the Brit’s injury and surgeries over the past few years, he has consistently been missing out on major tournaments. However, the two-time Wimbledon champion has made his intentions clear on continuing playing the sport at the highest level in time to come.

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