Murray pulls out of Citi Open quarters

Former world number one Andy Murray has withdrawn from the quarter-finals of the ongoing Citi Open, citing exhaustion as the reason behind the decision.

While announcing the news, the British tennis maestro said that he is exhausted after playing constantly for past few months, adding that he now needs to look after his body carefully.

"I won't be able to play my match tonight. 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," the ATP website quoted Murray, as saying.

The 31-year-old, who was due to play his quarter-final clash against Australia's Alex de Minnaur, was reportedly angry after being forced to play his pre-quarterfinal clash against Romanian Marius Copil from midnight to 3 in the morning, news.com.au reported.

"I don't think I should be put in a position like that. (My body) doesn't feel great right now. I've had a few long matches. Finishing matches at three in the morning isn't good for anyone involved in the event, players, TV, fans, anyone," Murray said.

"When you're expected to come back and perform the next day, I think that's unreasonable. It's a very difficult position to be coming back from a long injury to be finishing matches at 3 o'clock in the morning," he added.

The former world number one, who went through a hip surgery in January this year, was appearing in his third tournament since the operation and has been trying hard to get back to his form following prolonged injury.

Earlier, Murray had withdrawn from the 2018 Wimbledon championship with a 'heavy heart', saying that it might create hindrance in his 'recovery process'.