Murray withdraws from Olympic tennis men's singles event

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- British tennis player Andy Murray, the two-time reigning gold medalist in men's singles, is unable to defend his honor this time following his withdrawal from the event at the Tokyo Games on Sunday.

But Murray will continue to compete in the doubles tournament with Joe Salisbury.

Team Britain said in a press release that the decision to withdraw was made after consultation with medical staff in relation to a quad strain.

"I am really disappointed at having to withdraw but the medical staff have advised me against playing in both events, so I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the singles and focus on playing doubles with Joe," said Murray.

Max Purcell of Australia replaces Murray and will face Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada in the opening round.