Andy Murray withdraws from singles at his last Wimbledon and only will play doubles with his brother

LONDON (AP) — Andy Murray withdrew from singles at Wimbledon a little more than a week after surgery to remove a cyst from his spine, and the two-time men's champion at the All England Club said he would make his farewell appearance at the tournament by playing doubles with his older brother, Jamie.

“I’m disappointed. I wanted to play in the tournament, and I wanted to have a chance to go out there and walk out on my own on Centre Court again and give it another go. But I also was only going to do that if I felt like I could be competitive. And I didn’t feel like that today,” Murray said.

“I’m sorry, obviously, for everyone that came and wanted to support and watch again. And I wanted that moment, as well, as much for me as for the people that have supported me over the years. The fans, but also my closest friends, family, my team. It was important for me to do that with them, as well,” he said. “It’s one of those things. Unfortunate. The timing was horrible. The surgery was a complex one. It wasn’t to be.”

The 37-year-old Murray — who has been planning to retire after the Paris Olympics, which start later this month — was supposed to face Tomas Machac at Centre Court on Tuesday in the first round of singles. Murray was replaced in the bracket by David Goffin, who lost during qualifying rounds last week.

Murray won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016; the first of those made him the first British men's singles champion at the tournament in 77 years, and he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II after the second title.

He said over the weekend that he was hoping for “maybe a bit of closure” by getting one more chance to "feel that buzz” of playing at Centre Court before the end of his career.

He won the U.S. Open in 2012, made it to No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is the only player to win two consecutive singles gold medals at an Olympics. Those titles came at London in 2012 — when the matches held were at the All England Club — and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Murray came along during an era of unprecedented excellence in men's tennis, dominated by the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. That trio has combined for 66 Grand Slam titles — led by the 24 for Djokovic, who was born a week after Murray in May 1987 — and swapped the top ranking for years, but Murray managed to elbow his way in, eventually.

A grinding game style, mainly at the baseline, superb serve returning and an unrelenting attitude that propelled Murray to success on the court and popularity off it. He has been an advocate for women in the sport, including hiring Amelie Mauresmo as his coach — a rare instance of a top male player working with a female coach — and never been shy about voicing his opinions on various issues.

In recent years, his career has been marked by a series of injuries, and he had a pair of hip operations in 2018 and 2019, the second of which implanted a metal joint. Murray thought he would need to retire back then, but returned to action, even as his mobility was limited and other parts of his body broke down.

During a second-round match at the grass-court tournament at Queen’s Club in London last month, Murray stopped playing because he was having trouble walking. He later explained that a cyst was compressing a nerve in his back and leaving his right leg numb, and he had surgery on June 22.

Murray had been training in recent days at the All England Club and undergoing medical tests to see whether he would be able to compete one last time at the tournament that has defined his career.

“This is a place," Murray said Sunday, “that’s obviously been really good to me over the years.”

But on Tuesday, after practicing alongside his brother, a two-time Grand Slam champion in men's doubles, Murray said he determined that “it’s probably a few days to soon” to try to play singles.

“I’ve given a lot to give myself the opportunity to play here,” he said. “The singles was always going to be a big ask.”

With less movement required in doubles, he figures that is something he can do, and called it “special” to play together with his sibling at Wimbledon for the first time.

AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Britain's Andy Murray arrives at the practice court on day two of the Wimbledon tennis championships, in London, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Andy Murray plays a shot during a training session on day two of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Tuesday July 2, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Andy Murray, left, and Jamie Murray stand on the practise courts on day two of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Tuesday July 2, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

FILE - Andy Murray of Britain kisses his trophy after beating Milos Raonic of Canada in the men's singles final on day fourteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 10, 2016. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Britain's Andrew Murray drops his racquet as he disputes a point, during his Men's Singles, third round match against Argentina's David Nalbandian on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, Saturday, June 25, 2005. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

FILE - Andy Murray of Britain plays a return to Liam Broady of Britain during their men's singles match on day two of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

A member of the ground staff removes the name of Andy Murray from an order of play board after his withdrawal from the men's singles on day two of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

FILE - Roger Federer of Switzerland, left, poses with the winner's trophy alongside Andy Murray of Britain following the men's singles final match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Sunday, July 8, 2012. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Spain's Rafael Nadal, left, shakes hands after defeating Britain's Andy Murray in the men's semifinal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Friday, July 1, 2011. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Andy Murray of Britain, left, is congratulated by Novak Djokovic of Serbia after he won the Men's singles final match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, July 7, 2013. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, Pool, File)

FILE - Andy Murray of Britain celebrates after beating Milos Raonic of Canada in the men's singles final on the fourteenth day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 10, 2016. Murray will play only doubles at his last appearance at the All England Club following his withdrawal from singles after back surgery. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Britain's Andy Murray on the practice court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Saturday June 29, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Britain's Andy Murray and his coaching team on the practice court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Saturday June 29, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (John Walton/PA via AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — For the first time in decades, Venezuela's self-described socialist government is facing a serious electoral challenge in a presidential election.

President Nicolás Maduro, now in his 11th year in office, is being challenged by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia at the head of a resurgent opposition, as well as a field of eight other candidates. The official campaign period for the July 28 election kicked off Thursday.

Maduro, who's presided over an economic collapse that's seen millions of people emigrate, has fended off previous challenges by barring rivals from elections — including opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado — and painting them as out-of-touch elitists in league with foreign powers.

This time, he promised to let the Unitary Platform party participate in elections in a deal that brought some relief from crippling U.S. sanctions. That relief, however, was short-lived as the U.S. reimposed sanctions amid mounting government actions against the opposition.

Here's what to know about Venezuela's upcoming presidential election.

The most talked-about name in the race isn't on the ballot: Maria Corina Machado, a former lawmaker, emerged as an opposition star in 2023, filling the void left when a previous generation of opposition leaders went into exile. Her principled attacks on government corruption and mismanagement rallied millions of Venezuelans to vote for her in the opposition’s October primary.

But Maduro's government declared the primary was against the law and opened criminal investigations against some of its organizers. Since then, it has issued warrants for a number of Machado's supporters and arrested some members of her staff, and the country's top court affirmed a decision to keep her off the ballot.

Yet, she kept on campaigning, holding rallies across the country and turning the ban on her candidacy into a symbol of the loss of rights and humiliations that many voters have felt for over a decade.

She's thrown her support behind Edmundo González Urrutia, a former ambassador who's never held public office, helping a fractious opposition unify behind him.

They are campaigning together promising an economy that will lure back the millions of Venezuelans who have migrated since Maduro became president in 2013. At rallies, supporters with tears in their eyes have held signs pleading for the return of loved ones.

González began his diplomatic career as an aide to Venezuela’s ambassador in the U.S. in the late 1970s. He had postings in Belgium and El Salvador and served as Caracas’ ambassador to Algeria. His last post was as ambassador to Argentina during the first years of Hugo Chávez’s presidency, which began in 1999.

More recently, González worked as an international relations consultant and wrote a historical work on Venezuela during World War II.

President Nicolás Maduro’s popularity has dwindled due to an economic crisis that resulted from a drop in oil prices, corruption and government mismanagement.

Maduro can still bank on a cadre of die-hard believers, known as Chavistas, including millions of public employees and others whose businesses or employment depend on the state. But the ability of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela to use access to social programs to get people to the polls has diminished as the country's economy has frayed.

He's the heir to Hugo Chávez, a popular socialist who expanded Venezuela's welfare state while locking horns with the United States.

Sick with cancer, Chávez handpicked Maduro to act as interim president upon his death. He took on the role in March 2013, and the following month, he narrowly won the presidential election triggered by his mentor’s death.

Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a contest that is widely considered a sham. His government banned Venezuela’s most popular opposition parties and politicians from participating, and in turn, the opposition urged voters to boycott the election.

That authoritarian tilt was part of the rationale the U.S. used to impose economic sanctions that crippled the country’s crucial oil industry.

More than 21 million Venezuelans are registered to vote, but the exodus of over 7.7 million people due to the prolonged crisis — including about 4 million voters — is expected to reduce the number of potential voters to about 17 million.

Voting is not mandatory and is done on electronic machines.

Venezuelan law allows people to vote abroad, but only about 69,000 met the criteria to cast ballots at embassies or consulates during this election. Costly and time-consuming government prerequisites to register, lack of information and a mandatory proof of legal residency in a host country kept many migrants from registering to vote.

Venezuelans in the U.S. face an insurmountable obstacle: Consulates, where citizens abroad would typically cast their ballots, are closed because Caracas and Washington severed diplomatic relations after Maduro’s 2018 re-election.

A more free and fair presidential election seemed like a possibility last year, when Maduro’s government agreed to work with the U.S.-backed Unitary Platform party to improve electoral conditions in October 2023. An accord on election conditions earned Maduro’s government broad relief from U.S. economic sanctions on its state-run oil, gas and mining sectors.

But hopes for a more level playing field began fading days later, when authorities said the opposition’s primary was against the law and later began issuing warrants and arresting human rights defenders, journalists and opposition members.

A U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights violations in Venezuela has reported that the government has increased repression of critics and opponents ahead of the election, subjecting targets to detention, surveillance, threats, defamatory campaigns and arbitrary criminal proceedings.

The government has also used its control of media outlets, the country’s fuel supply, electric network and other infrastructure to limit the reach of the Machado-González campaign.

The mounting actions taken against the opposition prompted the Biden administration earlier this year to end the sanctions relief it granted in October.

FILE - A supporter holds up a banner with images of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, during a campaign rally in Maracaibo, Venezuela Thursday, May 2, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Supporters of Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzlez hold signs of support at a meeting with him in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 13, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Supporters cheer during a campaign rally for President Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third term, in Guatire, Venezuela, Friday, May 31, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - A man dressed as an independence fighter attends a political event with Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 13, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)