Former British No1 John Lloyd has paid tribute to ‘greatest British sportsman’ Andy Murray, calling his withdrawal from his first-round match at Wimbledon ‘a sad day for the sport’. 

Murray confirmed that he would no longer be taking part in the singles draw on Tuesday morning, hours before his planned Centre Court clash with Tomas Machac. 

Sharing a statement which spoke of his heartfelt regret of being unable to battle through, the two-time Wimbledon champion admitted that the decision had been a challenging one. 

‘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,’ the statement read. 

‘As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie.’ 

The two-time WImbledon champion had back surgery just over a week ago and has been struggling for fitness

Murray was due to face off with Tomas Machac, but has now been replaced by David Goffin

The 37-year-old’s late withdrawal means that the last match that Murray played on Centre Court remains last year’s dramatic five-set thriller against this year’s No11 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Late into the night – and into the next day – Murray battled to bypass the Greek player, claiming the second and third sets after falling behind in the first before being halted by an injury scare. 

The 11pm curfew soon after brought proceedings to a premature close, with Tsitsipas coming out renewed the following afternoon to close out the win in the final two sets. 

Speaking on the BBC’s coverage, Lloyd said that the news was something that he ‘wasn’t hoping to hear.’ 

‘I saw him a couple of days ago, and he was moving OK, and I thought, there’s a chance here,’ he added. ‘Devastating news, because it’s not the way that he would have wanted to go out. 

‘Very sad news for such a great, great player. He would have tried everything possible, with his team around him. he must have been absolutely devastated. 

The 37-year-old had been scheduled for a final practice on Tuesday afternoon before his tie

But the Briton ultimately decided with regret that was unable to continue in the singles draw

For Andy Murray, he’s not going to go out unless he thinks he’s going to win the match,’ Lloyd continued. ‘And he obviously thought it was one step too far, and he’s called it a day.   

‘Hopefully that will happen. It would be awful if he didn’t play at all.   

On the scale of Murray’s achievement, the Mail Sport columnist said: ‘When you think about it, the era he was in (with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) for him to have won three slams, Olympic gold, Davis Cup (is incredible). 

‘I remember the fire, the will to win. You can’t teach that when someone’s got the inner will to win over anything. I believe (he was) the greatest British sportsman ever. 

‘I almost can’t believe it. A very sad day for the sport.’ 

Lloyd added that he hoped that Murray would stay involved in British tennis due to his capacity to inspire the next generation, dubbing him an ideal ‘role model’ for up-and-coming players.  

Nick Kyrgios – who is moonlighting as a BBC pundit – previously called for Murray to withdraw

The former World No13 called the Briton a ‘legend of the sport’ but asked for him to consider his health before making the decision

On Monday fellow BBC pundit – and currently injured former world No13 – Nick Kygrios had called on Murray to take his decision to play very seriously – and withdraw if suffering from intense physical pain. 

With high praise for the Olympic gold medallist, the Australian called Murray ‘a legend of the sport’.  

‘He’s arguably one of the best to ever do it, so I completely understand him trying to get out here and get in front of his fans one last time,’ Kyrgios said.   

‘I don’t think I’ve played through something as severe as that. At the end of the day I’ve got a pretty good relationship with Andy, I don’t want him to do anything permanent to even affect his life after tennis.

‘If he is feeling good enough to play some dubs (doubles) and get out there and give it one last push, I support it.

Murray will be replaced on Centre Court by newly minted British No1 Jack Draper on Tuesday

‘But the way he is grimacing right now I’d say just wrap it up, get the legs up and enjoy it.’ 

Fans hopeful of catching a glimpse of Murray later in the tournament will rely on his continued participation in the doubles alongside brother Jamie, who has won the mixed doubles in SW19 twice previously. 

Stepping into Murray’s place on Centre Court on Tuesday afternoon in a poignant changing of the guard is newly minted British No1 Jack Draper. 

In a promotion from No2 Court, Draper will take to the tournament’s showpiece court to face Sweden’s Elias Ymer in the last match of the day.