Andy Murray (ATP-16) moet zijn terugkeer opnieuw uitstellen. De Brit ondervindt nog steeds last aan de heup, en moet passen voor het ATP-toernooi van Brisbane.

Murray kwam sinds Wimbledon vorig jaar niet meer in actie dooreen heupblessure. Vorige week speelde hij een demonstratiewedstrijd in Abu Dhabi, maar tijdens een training in Australië keerde de pijn terug.

Een teleurgestelde Murray postte een boodschap op Instagram: “Ik wilde goed van start gaan in het nieuwe jaar, maar ik ben nog niet toe aan spelen op het hoogste niveau. Ik moet nu mijn opties heroverwegen, een operatie behoort ook tot de mogelijkheden. De kans op een succesvol resultaat bij een operatie is echter niet zo groot als ik zou willen. Daarom is dat altijd mijn tweede optie geweest. Misschien moet ik het nu wel gaan overwegen, maar ik hoop nog steeds van niet.”

Murray blijft nog een aantal dagen in Australië en zal dan beslissen of hij kan deelnemen aan de Australian Open.

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 ??❤️

Een bericht gedeeld door Andy Murray (@andymurray) op 2 Jan 2018 om 1:23 (PST)

“I’m very disappointed. I came here 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”

– @andy_murray #BrisbaneTENnis pic.twitter.com/lW6JxcyS68

— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) January 2, 2018