Artois: Murray pulls out

Andy Murray has withdrawn from his quarter-final with Andy Roddick in the Artois Championships.

Murray suffered a thumb injury during his victory over Ernests Gulbis and decided not to risk causing any further damage at Queen's Club.

The British number one missed Wimbledon last year with a serious wrist injury but said: "I'm guessing it will be fine for Wimbledon."

Earlier, he had put a brave face on his injury troubles.

Murray had said: "I am pretty concerned about it at the moment. With a sprain it tends to be worse the morning after but I will see what it is like in the morning before I decide what action to take.

"If I feel that I won't do it any more damage then I will play through the pain barrier but if it is affecting my grip and Roddick is serving at 140 miles per hour then obviously it's not the best thing for it."

Murray, 21, missed the French Open and Wimbledon last year with a serious wrist injury.

Also in action are top seed and French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who faces 6ft 10in Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the last eight, with the winner set to face either Murray or Roddick in the semi-finals.

The third quarter-final will feature second seed Novak Djokovic against former Wimbledon champion Leyton Hewitt after the Australian Open champion came through a tough third-round clash with fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic late last night.

And the final quarter-final sees 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian up against last year's beaten Wimbledon semi-finalist, Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

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