Murray’s comeback plan remains in doubt

FEARS are growing over Andy Murray’s readiness for the Australian Open — if he gets to Melbourne at all.

The former world No.1 was still in Britain yesterday, having returned last Tuesday from training in Miami.

His original plan was to be in Australia before Christmas but his departure now appears to have been delayed.

Murray, who has not played an official event since mid-July at Wimbledon, is one of three big names due to make comebacks. Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka also hope to return to action but their plans are still unconfirmed.

His management team insist he will be travelling to Australia and he hopes to compete in the Brisbane Open, starting on January 1. The Scot, 30, could yet arrive in good time and that would seem a sensible move after a long lay-off.

Although he has been having drill sessions with coach Jamie Delgado, Murray is not on the now-closed entry list for the doubles in Brisbane — an event that may have tempted a player returning from injury.

Murray is battling a nagging hip condition that first seemed to handicap him in June’s French Open, where he made the semi-finals. Since his early exit from Queen’s and quarterfinal defeat at Wimbledon Murray has seen several specialists, and said last month that he would continue trying rehab rather than any surgery.

Murray did manage to play Roger Federer in Glasgow to raise funds for his charitable foundation on November 7.

Although he hit the ball sweetly, he looked short of his usual standards and seemed to have a slight limp.

Murray, whose wife Kim gave birth to their second daughter in early November, is not alone in having doubts swirl around him. Yesterday, Wawrinka and Milos Raonic pulled out of next week’s exhibition event in Abu Dhabi. Wawrinka says he is not ready after knee surgery.

There have also been conflicting signals coming from Serena Williams, 36, who is en- tered at Melbourne after giving birth to her first child on September 1.

Williams was booked to speak at a conference in Florida on January 23. Yesterday, a hotel group announced she would be at the Australian Open as their “official ambassador”. On social media she referred recently to the trials of motherhood, and at 5am yesterday reported that she was “thinking about tacos”.