‘Exhausted’ Murray out of Washington and Toronto

Andy Murray cited exhaustion as he withdrew from his quarterfinal in Washington, and also pulled out of next week’s Rogers Cup in Toronto.

The Briton, playing only his third tournament since returning from an 11-month injury lay-off, was on court until 3am on Friday morning, and broke down emotionally after a gruelling win over Romania’s Marius Copil.

It was Murray’s third consecutive three-set match at the rain-hit tournament, and left him with less than 24 hours to prepare for a quarterfinal against Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

REPORT: Emotional Murray wins in Washington

“I won’t be able to play my match tonight,” Murray said in a statement.

“I’m exhausted after playing so much over the past four days, having not competed on the hard courts for 18 months. I also need to be careful and to listen to my body as I come back from a long-term injury.

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“I’m gutted not to be playing and I’d like to thank the tournament and all the fans.

“There are lots of positives to take from this week, so I’ll take some time to rest and recover, and then head to Cincinnati early to prepare and get ready.”

Tournament organiser Keely O’Brien had earlier suggest Murray think about his position as a “global role model” if he were considering pulling out with anything other than an injury.

Following confirmation that Murray was indeed withdrawing, O’Brien said: “I sincerely respect his decision and know that his health and recovery process is his top priority, as it should be.”

Murray, who spent over eight hours on court in beating Mackenzie McDonald, Kyle Edmund and Copil, will rise from his current ranking of 832nd to inside the top 400 next week.

The Scot’s Toronto wildcard has been passed on to another three-time Grand Slam champion, Stan Wawrinka, who has been drawn to face Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in his opening match.

In Washington, De Minaur moves on to face American Denis Kudla or Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

The other half of the draw will see Alexander Zverev take on Stefanos Tsitsipas, after top seed Zverev beat Kei Nishikori 3-6 6-1 6-4, and Greek teenager Tsitsipas saw off third seed David Goffin 6-3 6-4.