Andy Murray withdraws from Queen's Club with ab strain, but still on track to play Wimbledon

THE BREAK: Andy Murray returns to the grass

Andy Murray has withdrawn from this week's ATP event at Queen's Club with the the abdominal problem that troubled him during the final of Stuttgart, but still aims to play Wimbledon.

The five-time Queen's Club champion said it was "disappointing not to compete" this week, but told British press that scans had indicated it was simply a muscle strain. Murray added that he could still play an exhibition at Hurlingham next week to warm up for Wimbledon.

The 35-year-old former No. 1 had called the trainer twice during his three-set Stuttgart defeat to Matteo Berrettini, but confirmed he had not injured the hip on which he had surgery in 2019.

"I got some pain in my ab when I was serving. Not something I've had before," Murray told press.

Murray, was also coming off reaching the semifinals of a grass-court challenger in Surbiton.

"It’s a really long time I have played nine matches in 14 days. So it is probably normal that I would feel some stuff in my body but I don’t really know the severity of it," he said before withdrawing from Queen's Club. "It's tough to say anything about the next weeks."

But speaking on court following the final, Murray was positive about his level of play, having also scored wins against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios during the tournament.

"I’m looking forward to what the future has to hold and feeling a lot better about my game," he said, adding he hoped "my body can hold up a little while longer so I can keep playing matches like this" and had noticed "a lot of progress'' in his game.