2017 US Open, Tim Henman, Andy Murray
Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 12, 2017 Great Britain’s Andy Murray reacts after losing his quarter final match against Sam Querrey of the U.S. Reuters /Andrew Couldridge

After keeping organisers in the dark for several weeks, Andy Murray finally withdrew from the 2018 Brisbane International Tuesday due to his hip injury. Murray announced via Instagram (see below) that he was considering hip injury, which would effectively rule him out of the forthcoming Australian Open grand slam event.

Andy Murray followed in the footsteps of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who pulled out of the ATP 250 series event due to a knee injury. “I came here (to Brisbane) 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,’’ he said.

“I have great memories of playing here in Brisbane and I have always enjoyed competing in front of the Queensland fans, so look forward to returning in the near future," said Murray, who was attempting to play his first tournament at the Queensland Tennis Centre since 2013.

Andy Murray could miss 2018 Australian Open

On Friday, Murray shocked the world by replacing the injured Novak Djokovic at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. In his first semi-competitive tennis match since the 2017 Wimbledon, Murray looked rusty and out-of-place as he lost 2-6 in a one-set match to Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

After the game, Murray admitted that he a long way away from regaining his rhythm: “I felt better as it went on. I was a little bit slow at the start. Roberto is one of the best players in the world and when you haven’t competed at this level for a while it takes a long time to get back. I need to keep improving for sure.”

The Brisbane International (Jan. 1 - 8) was due to be headlined by Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov, the reigning ATP World Tour Finals winner. However, injuries to Nadal and Murray have removed a little lustre from an annual tournament that's been held at the Queensland Tennis Centre since 2009.

 

Hey everyone.. Just wanted to write a little message on here for anyone interested in what in going through right now. Firstly I want to apologise to @brisbanetennis for withdrawing at late notice and to everyone who wanted to come along to watch me play(or lose_) The organisers couldn't have been more understanding and supportive and I'll always remember that. Thank you. 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 choose this pic as the little kid inside me just wants to play tennis and Compete.. I genuinely miss it 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. Everytime 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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