Wimbledon fears for Andy Murray after withdrawing from exhibition match with hip injury

Fears that Andy Murray may not be 100% fit to defend his Wimbledon title were sparked on Tuesday (27 June) after the world number one withdrew from an exhibition match against Lucas Pouille at the Aspall Tennis Classic due to a sore hip.

Murray was due to play twice in Hurlingham this week after his preparations for the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, set to get underway at the All England Club on 3 July, took a big hit with a shock first-round Aegon Championship loss to 90-ranked late injury replacement Jordan Thompson at Queen's Club.

While the 30-year-old will not play that first match, the BBC reports he is still expected to compete at the grass-court warm-up event as scheduled on Friday.

His decision to withdraw is described merely as a precaution in the run-up to Wimbledon, an event he won in both 2013 and 2016.

Murray has dealt with his fair share of health problems this year, contracting shingles after the Australian Open and later missing six weeks of action due to an elbow injury.

The Briton was also bothered by a flu-type virus in the run-up to Roland Garros, where he reached the semi-finals before losing a five-setter to Stan Wawrinka.

Murray's "Big Four" rival, Rafael Nadal, is also set to play at Hurlingham this week after missing Queen's on the advice of a doctor following his record 10th French Open title triumph. The Mallorcan is due to face Tomas Berdych on Wednesday and Tommy Haas on Friday. World number 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also in action in south west London.

Novak Djokovic has not played a pre-Wimbledon warm-up event for seven years, but decided to enter the Aegon International in Eastbourne in a bid to rediscover some semblance of form. The 12-time Grand Slam-winner led Vasek Pospisil 1-0 in the first set earlier on Tuesday before play was suspended due to rain.

Roger Federer, 35, is considered the favourite to claim an eighth title at SW19 next month after demolishing Alexander Zverev to win the Gerry Weber Open in Halle for the ninth time on Sunday. The current world number five will be seeded third for Wimbledon, behind Murray and Djokovic but ahead of Nadal.