Following his confirmation that he suffered a ruptured ankle ligament during his Sunday Miami Open loss to Tomas Machac, Andy Murray announced he would be out for “an extended amount of time.”
The 36-year-old lost to Czech opponent Machac 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in the decisive set, necessitating treatment for his injured ankle.
“I sustained a full rupture of my ATFL [anterior talofibular ligament] and an almost full-thickness rupture of my CFL [calcaneofibular ligament] yesterday towards the conclusion of my match in Miami,” Murray wrote on Instagram.
“When I get home, I’ll consult with an ankle specialist to figure out what to do next. Needless to say, this is a difficult one to accept, and I’ll be away for a while. However, I’ll return with 1 hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
In the decisive set, Murray battled back from a 0-3 deficit to tie the match at 5-5, but he needed medical attention after landing awkwardly on his ankle.
After forcing a tiebreaker in the match, Murray gave away four straight points after leading 5-3, securing Machac’s trip to the quarterfinals.
Murray’s most recent injury setback occurs less than two months before the French Open, which is scheduled for late May and early June, and three months before Wimbledon in July. The top 56 ranks on June 10 will receive direct entry for the Olympic Games in Paris, which are set to begin on July 24.
Additionally, it casts even more uncertainty on the future of the former world number one, who had already declared that he “did not plan on playing much beyond this summer.”
(Skysport)
