Andy Murray withdraws from Western and Southern Open due to abdominal strain

Andy Murray will not play against 11th seed Karen Khachanov. On Tuesday, he will be replaced in the drawing by a lucky loser

Andy Murray, former World No. 1, withdrew from the Western and Southern Open due to an abdominal strain, according to a report by ATP.

Murray, who withdrew from his third-round match against Jannik Sinner in Toronto last week due to the same issue, will not play against 11th seed Karen Khachanov. On Tuesday, he will be replaced in the drawing by a lucky loser.

"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. It took me about 10 to 12 days before I was feeling good again," Skysports quoted Murray as saying at the time.

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"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."

In Canada, the 36-year-old demonstrated his fighting spirit by defeating Max Purcell in the second round after a two-hour, 47-minute battle. He travelled to Cincinnati after withdrawing from that event, but he is not yet ready to compete.

Murray is ranked No. 36 in the ATP Rankings.

Khachanov has not competed since falling to Novak Djokovic in the French Open 2023 quarterfinals. The 27-year-old has been sidelined with a groyne injury and will now play a fortunate loser instead of Murray.

(With agency inputs)

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