Andy Murray shocked the US Open on Saturday night by withdrawing from the tournament due to his continuing hip problem.
The 2012 champion and now world No 2 made the announcement following a practice session with Frenchman Lucas Pouille overseen by head coach Ivan Lendl.
Murray explained that his attempts at rehab had failed to get him ready for two weeks combat at Flushing Meadows, and that he was withdrawing immediately.
It will be the first Grand Slam that he has missed since the 2013 French Open.
In a brief media conference he added that he would make a decision ‘over the next few days’ about whether to shut down his season altogether, but insisted that this was not inevitable.
Murray said: ‘I 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.
‘I tried obviously resting, rehabbing, to try and get myself ready here. I 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.
‘I certainly wouldn’t have been hurting myself more by trying to play. It was more a question of whether it would settle down in time.
‘I have never had to take any time off because of my hip before, we were hoping that by taking a few weeks off and resting and rehabbing and really reducing the load that I was putting it through, that I would be okay by the time US Open came around, but unfortunately that’s not been the case.’
Culled from Mail Sport
COMMENTS