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A crestfallen Andy Murray withdrew at the last minute from the Brisbane International on Tuesday, then cast serious doubt on his immediate future when he revealed he is considering surgery to mend his troublesome right hip. His chances of playing in the Australian Open, less than a fortnight away, are negligible. After 12 years on the Tour, his career is very much in the balance.
Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Brisbane International tournament because of pain in his hip. Photograph: Kamran Jebreili/AP
The 30-year-old Scot – who returned from back surgery in 2016 to win a third grand slam title and a second Olympic gold medal – sounded irretrievably despondent as he contemplated abandoning the drawn-out rehabilitation programme that has failed to resolve the unspecified problem in his hip since he lost to Sam Querrey in five sets in the Wimbledon quarter-finals almost six months ago.
In a poignant message on Instagram – posted with a picture of himself as a small boy – Murray said: “I’ve obviously been going through a really difficult period with my hip for a long time and have sought counsel 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 to 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 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.”
Referring to the picture he chose to flag up his explanation, Murray said: “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. 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 court soon.”
The future for Murray seems as distant as the past as he struggles to acknowledge that the hard work he has put in to rebuild his career since his last match – on the ninth day of Wimbledon, where he has enjoyed his most sun-kissed moments – has yet to repay him even a slim dividend.
The former world No1, idling at No16 in the world rankings during his enforced sabbatical, insisted privately in the aftermath of Tuesday’s withdrawal that he was determined to play in Melbourne, where he has been a beaten finalist five times. That looks a forlorn hope.
Murray, striving to be positive in adversity, made similarly optimistic noises before leaving Abu Dhabi for Queensland last weekend. We should be under no illusion: the Scot is fighting for his career. He said when he arrived in Brisbane what he needed was match time, not more relentless rehab and practice. Those plans are in tatters.
Murray was due to resume competitive play against Ryan Harrison on Thursday, at a tournament where he had won all nine of his previous matches – but they were four and five years ago.
A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray) on Jan 2, 2018 at 1:23am PST
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
