By Ros Satar
- World No. 2 & 2012 champion Andy Murray announces he is withdrawing from the US Open
- Skipped the US hard-court swing to rest and rehabilitate as much as possible, but was still visibly limping in practice
NEW YORK, USA – Andy Murray announced his withdrawal from the US Open having tried as much as possible to get ready for the final slam of the year.
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Murray announces withdrawal from US Open 2017
Just a day after the US Open draw, Andy Murray, 2012 champion in New York, announced his withdrawal from this year’s US Open. On media day, he made his announcement to the press citing the hip injury that has been bothering him since the French Open.
As reported on the US Open website: Murray said: “Obviously had the issue with the hip over what’s actually been since my match with Stan in Paris. Did pretty much everything that I could to get myself ready here and took, you know, a number of weeks off after Wimbledon. I obviously spoke to a lot of hip specialists. Tried obviously resting, rehabbing, to try and get myself ready here.
“Was actually practicing okay the last few days, but it’s too sore for me to win the tournament and ultimately that’s what I was here to try and do. Unfortunately, I won’t be playing here this year.”
Murray has not played a match since losing to Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon 2012. Ordinarily he would have done his preparation at least incorporating the Masters 1000 double-header in Canada (Montreal) and Cincinnati, but he withdrew from both in a bid to be ready.
He continued: “I certainly wouldn’t have been hurting myself more by trying to play. It was more a question of whether, you know, it would settle down in time. Obviously, I kind of ran out of time maybe if I’d been able to take a little bit more time off.
“I have never had to take any time off because of my hip before, so we’re hoping that by taking a few weeks off and resting and rehabbing and really reducing the load that I was putting through it, that, you know, I would be okay by the time US Open came around, but unfortunately that’s not been the case.
“Obviously I spoke to a number of specialists about it to get the best advice possible. When you speak to a lot, there is different views and opinions on what the best thing to do is moving forward, and that’s a decision I’ll need to take now.”
Is calling time on his 2017 season an option?
We have all seen the effect taking a prolonged period of time off has made for both Roger Federer, winning two Grand Slams in 2017, and Rafael Nadal, and with Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori all calling time on their 2017 season early to recover from various injuries, Murray now has to consider making a similar move.
He said: “I’ll definitely make a decision on that in the next few days. That’s something that I’ll sit down and decide with my team. But I’ll decide on that in the next couple of days, for sure.”
It will not have been the first time he has done that. After winning Wimbledon in 2013, he underwent minor back surgery in late September and did not return for the rest of the season. If he chooses that option once more, he could not see a reason why his career could not continue at the same high level.
He explained: “If I get myself fit and healthy, there is no reason why I can’t. I have been practicing here and competitive in practice when I’m not moving close to how I can when I’m healthy. So, obviously there has been a lot of players with injuries this year – Roger and Rafa last year had a few problems.
“Look, I want to be back on court as soon as I can. If it means that I can play before the end of the year, then, you know, that’s what I would love to do. I miss competing, and I’ll try to get myself back on court as soon as I can.
“But, you know, obviously I’ll need to make the correct decision and really think it through these next couple of days with my team, and then make that decision.”
The US Open takes place between 28 August and 10 September.
Main Image: Jon Buckle/SilverHub/REX/Shutterstock
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