Andy Murray has pulled out of Wimbledon after failing to recover from the wrist injury he suffered last month.

Murray had planned on leaving the decision on his participation at the All England Club until after his practice session on Monday.

But after an indoor session at Roehampton on Sunday, the 20-year-old announced he would not risk further damage to his wrist by taking on Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in the first round.

A statement from Murray read: "I have done everything possible to get ready for Wimbledon. I have played practice sets the last few days but still cannot hit a topspin forehand properly.

"It has been six weeks of really hard work but I'm not 100% ready. The wrist is a very important part of tennis and there are a number of players who have made the decision to come back too soon and ended up with long-term injuries and I do not want to take the risk and make the same mistake.

"The doctor has advised me not to play and that I probably need about 10 days to be ready. Unfortunately, I don't think it is going to rain for the next 10 days.

"I love playing Wimbledon because of the great support I get from the British public and that is what I will miss the most."

Murray, who is replaced in the draw by American Kevin Kim, suffered the injury in the first round of the Hamburg Masters on May 15, his 20th birthday.

He has not played competitively since, missing the French Open and Artois Championships at Queen's Club, but had hoped intensive treatment would allow him to take his place at the All England Club, where he reached the fourth round last year with a brilliant victory over two-time finalist Andy Roddick.

In his pre-tournament press conference on Saturday, Murray revealed he was "planning to play", but admitted he was still feeling pain following the micro-tear to his tendon.

"I've spoken to the doctor a few times about it, and the physios that I've been working with," Murray said.

"They're all pretty confident that I can't re-injure it, which is great. The only thing is, if I try to hit the ball 100% and have a reaction the next day, it might take a couple days for it to get better. But it's not like I'm going to do the same thing again.

"The new fibres need time to get strong. I've been doing weights on my wrist to try and help that but obviously with the contact of the ball, that makes it hurt a little bit."

As well as shunting the Lapentti v Kim match from the glamour of court one to court 18, Murray's withdrawal leaves Tim Henman to spearhead the British men's challenge once again following the retirement of Greg Rusedski.

And with the four-time semi-finalist having won just two matches on the ATP Tour all year, the chances of any home representation in the second week will likely depend on the weather forecast.

Henman is one of four British men scheduled to be in action on the opening day, the 32-year-old's match with Carlos Moya - the man he beat to win his first ATP Tour title in Sydney a decade ago - due to follow Roger Federer's opener against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili on Centre Court.

Henman's world ranking has slipped to 78th, its lowest for 11 years, and he has not been beyond the second round here since 2004.

Josh Goodall and Jamie Baker are also scheduled to play their first-round matches against Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France respectively, while Lee Childs will take on fellow qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan.