Brad Gilbert, the coach of Andy Murray, talked for the first time last night, of the anguish the young Scot felt through missing Wimbledon.

The American, who formerly coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, said the 20 year old from Dunblane had been hugely disappointed at having to make an 11th-hour withdrawal from the world's biggest tennis tournament.

Murray injured his wrist in a tournament in Hamburg in mid-May and has struggled to regain fitness since then.

"It has been rough for him," said Gilbert, talking in a small room near centre-court to a group of five selected journalists. "It's a killer to be here at Wimbledon - and be one of the best two or three grass court players in the world - and be unable to play.

"However, his wrist was giving him problems and he has a long career to look forward to and didn't want to do anything to jeopardise that. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up at this Wimbledon in a hoodie to watch his brother Jamie play in the doubles. He was desperate to take part himself but it was not to be.

"Adversity makes you stronger and he will return to Wimbledon next year wiser and ready to go. At 20 years old, he has a lot of tennis in front of him. A few wins when he returns will raise his confidence in a heartbeat."

In the short-term Murray will get an X-ray on his injured wrist next week and hopes to be fit and ready for the North American hard court season which starts in Los Angeles on July 16 and goes on to Indianappolis, Washington and Montreal before the US Open starts.

"We are in Los Angeles when David Beckham makes his debut for LA Galaxy against Chelsea and I expect Andy will want to go along to that," said Gilbert. "Hopefully he will be fully fit by the time we get to LA and although he may be 10 days away from being able to hit a forehand properly we hope he will be able to do that by the time we get to the States."

Gilbert made it clear he completely agreed with Murray's decision to give Wimbledon a wide berth, as there were real fears he could aggravate his wrist injury by taking part. "Wrist injuries can lead to long lay-offs and I remember how Andre Agassi missed eight months in 1993 because of one," said Gilbert. "Nicolas Kiefer is still out after a year, Mardy Fish was out for a year and both Xavier Malisse and Paradorn Srichaphan both missed half a year. It is a difficult injury to overcome and takes time."

Gilbert revealed that Murray had done his best to prove his fitness for the tournament and waited to the last-minute to give him every chance of taking part. The young Scot had played a few sets against Alex Bogdanovich on Saturday and at that time was confident he could make the tournament.

"He tried to take it up a little more on the Sunday and he tried to hit a few forehands and play more sets but it didn't happen for him," said Murray's coach. "His wrist was still not 100% and still a little swollen and there was a chance if he took the ball late off a return in a competitive match he could possibly reinjure it. If he had played at Wimbledon he wanted his wrist to be 100%."

Gilbert admitted that even as Murray's coach he felt helpless as the clock ticked away and it became more and more apparent he would not be fit.

"I was always going to go with what Andy told me about the wrist injury," said Gilbert. "I had to be optimistic but the decision was out of my control. It is Andy's body and only he knew exactly what was going on. I was hoping it would heal faster but he had to listen to the trainers at the Lawn Tennis Association and the doctors."

Gilbert admitted it was now that he would earn his money as his coach. "It is easier to coach when things are going well," he said. "When things are down you have to keep your head, remain calm and work hard.

"I wanted Andy to be healthy in the long-term as nobody wants to be banged up at the age of 20. Every once in while you have a run of bad luck. Hopefully, by the summer, he will be back to playing good tennis."

Gilbert is renowned for his motivational skills and Murray is lucky to have him in his camp as he attempts to return to the top of the tennis tree. The author of a best-selling tennis book called Winning Ugly, Gilbert made his name helping players like Agassi and Roddick grind out results and remain positive, even in time of injury. He is confident he can do the same for Murray.

Another lending his support for Murray's decision was Roger Federer, the defending Wimbledon champion.

"I fell once on clay back in 1999 when I had a Davis Cup match in Belgium," said the Swiss yesterday. "I really felt it, especially on the forehand side. It was a real pain because there were so many little bones in the wrist. I really think he Andy Murray has made the right decision."