Brisbane: Former World No.1 Andy Murray’s lingering hip issues forced him to withdraw from the Brisbane International tennis tournament here Tuesday with the Briton admitting he was unsure whether he could recover in time for the Australian Open later this month.
Murray has not played a competitive match since a Wimbledon quarterfinal loss last July due to the complaint and despite coming through a one-set exhibition in Abu Dhabi last week, he was unable to train Tuesday and announced his withdrawal.
“I’m very disappointed to be withdrawing from the Brisbane International,” Murray, seeded second in Brisbane, told tournament organisers before going into further detail of his predicament in an emotional post on social media.
“Having been recommended to treat my hip conservatively since the US Open, I have done everything asked of me from a rehab perspective and worked extremely hard to try get back on the court competing,” Murray said on his Instagram account.
“Having played practice sets here in Brisbane with some top players unfortunately this hasn’t worked yet to get me to the level I would like so I have to reassess my options. Continuing rehab is one option and giving my hip more time to recover,” the Brit added.
The World No.16 was due to play his first tournament match of the season Thursday with a second-round encounter against American Ryan Harrison at the Pat Rafter Arena. He will be replaced by German lucky loser Yannick Hanfmann.
Reuters