Andy Murray admits Wimbledon singles fight defeat as he prepares for final doubles bow

There will be no final singles hurrah at Wimbledon for tennis legend Andy Murray after he announced he would withdraw from the singles event as he continues to recover from back surgery.

The 37-year-old Dunblane tennis star - who has lifted the famous golden trophy at SW19 twice - was fighting around the clock to make his scheduled first-round encounter with Czech Tomas Machac yesterday after the operation on a spinal cyst.

It would have given him one more chance to take to the Centre Court spotlight on his own again, but after discussion with his team, he pulled out of the match on Tuesday morning.

However, it doesn’t mean an end to the Murray mania at this year’s Wimbledon, as Andy will now turn his focus to competing alongside brother Jamie in the men’s doubles competition.

A statement released by Murray’s team confirmed the news: “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.

“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.”

The operation took place just 10 days ago after Murray was forced to pull out of his second-round clash with Australia’s Jordan Thompson at the Queen’s Club tournament due to a back issue.

The surgery then removed a cyst close to his spinal cord which was causing nerve pain in his right leg - beginning a rapid journey to recover in an effort to be fit for the event.

The three-time Grand Slam champion had played a warm-up set and a half with fellow British tennis player Kyle Edmund on Monday as part of his recovery efforts, but it