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Andy Murray has announced that because of his on-going hip injury

Murray withdraws from Brisbane


 

Originally published on 02/01/18 00:00

The British No.1, who arrived in Brisbane on Saturday from Abu Dhabi and has not played a competitive match since Wimbledon last year, had been looking to test his hip in a competitive match situation.

Speaking on Sunday at the Queensland Tennis Centre Murray said, “I feel like I'm getting better, but it's just you need to play matches and you need to play against the best players to gain confidence in how your body and your hip is feeling and how you respond to matches.”

On Tuesday however, having had several practice sessions here, Murray and his team decided that he was still not ready to play.

"I'm very disappointed to be withdrawing from the Brisbane International," said Murray.

"I came here with every intention of making a strong start to the year, but sadly my team and I don't feel that I'm where I need to be just yet to compete at the highest level."

In a later heartfelt post on his instagram account Murray talked about how demoralising it is not to be able to compete at the highest level. He said he will be staying in Australia for a few more days to see if the hip settles down and will decide at the weekend whether to stay on or to fly home to assess what he does next.

In a heartfelt post on his Instagram account, Murray said: “I've obviously been going through a really difficult period with my hip for a long time and have sought council from a number of hip specialists.

“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.

“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. Obviously continuing rehab is one option and giving my hip more time to recover.

“Surgery is also an option but the chances of a successful outcome are not as I high as I would like which has made this my secondary option and my hope has been to avoid that. However this is something I may have to consider but let's hope not.

“I genuinely miss it [tennis] so much and I would give anything to be back out there. I didn't realise until these last few months just how much I love this game. Every time I wake up from sleeping or napping I hope that it's better and it's quite demoralising when you get on the court it's not at the level you need it to be to compete at this level.

“In the short-term, I'm going to be staying in Australia for the next couple of days to see if my hip settles down a bit and will decide by the weekend whether to stay out here or fly home to assess what I do next.

“Sorry for the long post but I wanted to keep everyone in the loop and get this off my chest as it's really hurting inside.

“Hope to see you back on the court soon.”

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.