Brisbane: Andy Murray will make his long-awaited return to the ATP Tour in the Brisbane International here Sunday, after nearly five months out through injury.
Nervous organisers were gladdened by news that the dual Wimbledon champion had arrived in the city following the blow of losing World No.1 Rafael Nadal for the Australian Open lead-in tournament.
“Andy is here. He’s booking practice and really excited about coming back to Brisbane – his first appearance since 2013,” tournament director Cameron Pearson tweeted, Saturday.
Murray, the former World No.1, has been dogged by a hip complaint and played in an exhibition set to test it out in Abu Dhabi on his way to Australia.
The 30-year-old Scot was last in action during his loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon and then shut down the season after that to recover from his injury.
Murray showed the effects of his time away from the court during his 2-6 loss Friday to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, , but he is pressing on with his plans to play in the year’s opening Grand Slam in Melbourne next month.
“I felt better as it (game) went along, but I’ll need to keep improving for sure,” Murray had told reporters in Abu Dhabi. “Obviously I was a bit slow at the start. When you haven’t competed for a long while it takes time to get back up to that pace.”
Other top draws for the meet are defending champion and World No.3 Grigor Dimitrov, big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic and the combustible Australian Nick Kyrgios.
Spain’s World No.2 Garbine Muguruza heads a strong women’s field along with defending champion Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Garcia, Petra Kvitova and rising Australian star Ashleigh Barty.
Elbow problem plagues Djokovic
Doha: Former World No.1 Novak Djokovic withdrew Saturday from next week’s Qatar Open, casting doubt on his participation at the Australian Open, starting January 15. Qatar is the second tournament Djokovic has pulled out in as many days due to a niggling elbow injury. “Unfortunately, the situation with the elbow has not changed for the better since yesterday (Friday),” said Djokovic in a statement on his Twitter account. “I still feel the pain. Therefore, I will have to withdraw from (the) ATP tournament in Doha. Only when I’m 100 per cent ready to play, I will be able to come back,” he added. The latest announcement raises fresh doubts over the long-term future of the 30-year-old Serbian.
Agencies