Monday 2 July 2018 10:43, UK
Roger Federer has backed Andy Murray's "wise" decision to withdraw from Wimbledon as he continues his comeback from hip surgery.
Murray pulled out on Sunday - less than 24 hours before the tournament begins - saying he is not yet ready to compete in best-of-five-set matches.
When asked about his rival's decision, Federer - who has a record eight titles at Wimbledon - said: "Only he knows what he is feeling. It must be a tough decision but one he's taking for his career, and his life as well.
"I think it's probably a wise decision. He would give everything to play here and that's why it hurts.
"If you're just not feeling it in the morning to walk out there and play best-of-five a few times in a row, what's the point? You're only going to have a setback and then everybody's even more unhappy.
"I'm happy for him, that he was able to take a decision, but I'm sad that he's not playing Wimbledon, of course."
Murray returned to competitive action earlier this month at Queen's after nearly a year out of the game. He was beaten in the first round by Nick Kyrgios.
Earlier this week, he took part in Eastbourne, beating Stan Wawrinka before exiting at the hands of Kyle Edmund.
Murray was scheduled to play Benoit Paire in the first round at Wimbledon, and Federer said: "It's a big loss. He's one of the big guys here.
"He's done so much for British tennis. He won here, he won the Olympics here, so it's sad.
"It's not the end of the world and we all hope he's going to come back stronger and win some epic battles on centre court again."
We will have the men's Wimbledon final covered via our website skysports.com/tennis then click through to our dedicated section skysports.com/tennis/wimbledon. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.
Our next tennis action comes from the German Open in Hamburg. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena from Monday, July 23 from 10am.
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