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Andy Murray will miss the Australian Open after failing to recover in time from a pelvic injury picked up at the Davis Cup finals last month.
The former world number one, who has been making an inspirational comeback after hip resurfacing surgery, has decided not to travel to Melbourne after an injury he sustained at the end of the season failed to improve as he hoped.
Murray, who has been training on court this week, will miss the January 20-February 2 Grand Slam where he has been a five-time losing finalist and will also not play for Britain in the inaugural ATP Cup in Australia, starting on January 3.
“I’ve worked so hard to get myself into a situation where I can play at the top level and I’m gutted I’m not going to be able to play in Australia in January,” the three-time Grand Slam champion said on Saturday.
“After the Australian Open this year, when I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to play again, I was excited about coming back to Australia and giving my best and that makes this even more disappointing for me.
“Unfortunately I’ve had a setback recently and as a precaution, need to work through that before I get back on court competing.”
Murray’s management said it was always going to be a tight turnaround after his appearance at the Davis Cup finals in Madrid last month and they had decided not to rush back, so he’ll continue hitting on court and building up fitness.
It was at last year’s Australian Open that Murray was left in tears at a news conference where he told reporters that he was in such pain from a chronic hip injury that it might be his last tournament.
Yet, amazingly, the 32-year-old had looked on course to play in his first Grand Slam singles event since Melbourne after his recovery from major hip surgery 11 months ago had seen him climb back to world No.125.
After returning to competitive singles, he even won the European Open in Antwerp, his first triumph for two years.
Yet the Scot has not played since Britain’s opening tie at the Davis Cup when the pelvic injury flared up and he did not travel to Miami for his usual training spell, deciding instead to stay at home to train.
Murray will now not play until February at the earliest, with his first tournament scheduled to be the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said Murray would be missed in Melbourne and wished him all the best for his recovery.
© AAP
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