Andy Murray's Australian Open status uncertain after withdrawal from Brisbane
The former No. 1 has been battling a hip issue since July and could miss the Aussie Open
By
Kevin Skiver
•
1 min read
Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Brisbane International, casting doubt on whether or not he'll be able to participate in this month's Australian Open. The former ATP No. 1 player has dealt with a hip injury for the better part of a year, and after the withdrawal, he confirmed that his status for Melbourne is up in the air.
"I'm very disappointed to be withdrawing from the Brisbane International," Murray said, via Reuters. He expounded upon the comment in a later post, saying that he is entertaining the idea of surgery as a last resort.
Having been recommended to treat my hip conservatively since the U.S. 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. 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 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.
The injury led to Murray's withdrawal from Wimbledon back in July. Last week he played his first match since that quarterfinal round, in Abu Dhabi, but an inability to train on Tuesday led to the withdrawal from Brisbane.
"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," Murray said of his plans.
It's a frustrating setback for an injury that simply doesn't want to go away, and Murray, 30, seems to be staying as patient as he can with it. He has never won an Australian Open, but he has made the finals five times in his career, so he'd undoubtedly love another opportunity to do so this year.
