Andy Murray will be out for an “extended period” after rupturing his ankle ligaments during his Miami Open third-round defeat, an injury that could complicate his hopes of being fully fit and in form for one final Wimbledon before retiring at the end of the summer.
Murray faced a significant defeat on Sunday, losing to Tomas Machac with a score of 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) after playing for 3 hours and 28 minutes. In the final set, Murray was behind 2-5 and also experienced an ankle injury while holding serve for a 5-5 tie.
Even though Murray appeared to be in a lot of pain and shock, he chose to continue playing without any tape on his ankle. He came very close to winning the match despite being hindered by his injury, but ultimately lost in a close final set tie-break. Murray was able to leave the court without any assistance.
On Monday evening, Murray clarified that he sustained injuries to his anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) and calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) in his ankle.
“I sustained a complete tear of my ATFL and nearly complete tear of my CFL during my Miami match yesterday. I will be seeking advice from an ankle specialist upon returning home to plan my next course of action. Needless to say, this is a difficult setback and I will be out of commission for an extended period of time. But I will come back strong, even with weakened ankle ligaments, once the timing is appropriate,” stated Murray.
The healing process for a torn ATFL may last more than six weeks, varying in duration based on the extent of the damage.
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In the last month, Murray has stated that he plans to retire from his professional tennis career at the end of the summer season. Currently, he is in a race to recover from injury in time for the start of his preferred grass court season, which begins on June 10th and ends with the famous Wimbledon tournament on July 1st.
