Andy Murray sparks US Open injury doubts by pulling out of Canadian Open just before match

Andy Murray pulled out of his Canadian Open match at the 11th hour on Thursday night. The Brit was due to take on seventh seed Jannik Sinner in the round-of-16 but instead took to the court to inform fans that he wouldn’t be playing. Murray revealed that he had an abdominal strain, something that will come as a concern ahead of the US Open.

Murray had made a successful return to Toronto, competing in the city for the first time since 2014. He defeated Lorenzo Sonego and Max Purcell to reach the last-16 of a Masters event for just the third time since 2017.

The world No 40 was rewarded with a chance to face Sinner and the pair were set to do battle last on the tournament’s Centre Court on Thursday night. But Murray pulled out of the match as it was due to begin and came out to apologise to the fans while the world No 8 got a walkover into the quarter-final.

“The issue is my abdominal,” Murray told the Canadian Open fans. “So unfortunately I’m not going to be able to play this evening. I’m really sorry. I know I feel like I’ve let you down. I’ve rarely been in this situation in my career and I feel terrible.”