Andy Murray 'really sorry' as he withdraws from Canadian Open clash with Jannik Sinner with abdominal injury

Updated 11/08/2023 at 08:42 GMT

There was more injury frustration for Andy Murray after being forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open in Toronto with an abdominal injury. He had been due to face Jannik Sinner in the last 16, but a recurrence of a similar problem to last year has curtailed his tournament. Meanwhile, world No. 8 Sinner is now set to face Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals after overcoming Aleksandar Vukic.

'I feel terrible' - Murray addresses crowd to announce withdrawal from Toronto with injury

Andy Murray was forced to pull out of his Canadian Open match against Italian Jannik Sinner with an abdominal strain.

The Scot was due to face Sinner in the last 16 in Toronto, but decided to withdraw from the competition.

In a statement, Murray said: "I had a very similar issue last year in the tournament in Stuttgart before Wimbledon which forced me to miss the Queen's Club tournament and I was able to play Wimbledon.

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"It took me about 10 to 12 days before I was feeling good again.

"This is not as bad as that but obviously the danger if you compete and play on it is you make it worse.

"So, I'll need to see how it develops over the coming days and hopefully feel better in a few days. I'm really sorry. Thank you."

The three-time winner of the ATP 1000 tournament had come through a tense 7-6(2) 3-6 7-5 second round win over Australia's Max Purcell to set up the clash with Sinner.

Murray showed all his customary grit and determination to recover from 4-2 down in the third set to win 7-5, and dump out the world No. 78.

However, a familiar injury has proved to be the former world No. 1’s downfall, as his preparations for the US Open took a hit.

The 36-year-old, who also addressed the crowd on-court, was also enjoying his best position in the live ATP Rankings, moving up to No. 36 – his highest placing since reaching No. 29 in April 2018.

Murray is still planning to take part in the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, which begins in New York on August 28.