Murray planning to test his hip in Brisbane
TENNIS: A cautious Andy Murray says he will begin another tennis year with pain and is eager to see how his troublesome hip handles match conditions at the Brisbane International next week.
Murray called a halt to a sixtournament season in October in order to rest and strengthen the hip, which had required surgery after he was unable to play a match on his frustrating trip to Australia last summer.
But Scotland’s dual Wimbledon champion, who flew into Brisbane yesterday morning from London, insisted he was physically better than 12 months ago or during the northern summer.
“I still have some pain in my hip but I need to play matches and see how it feels when I am able to play three, four, five matches in a row, and take it from there,” Murray said.
“I’m in a better place than I was a few months ago. I played a few tournaments in the summer in the UK and the US and I feel better than I did then.
“Last year when I came here was tough. I was struggling quite a lot. It definitely feels a bit better than I did coming here last year.”
Asked what he hoped to achieve in Brisbane and at the Australian Open, the 31-yearold said: “I would just like to get through the tournaments and feel like I am able to compete and not be restricted by my hip, which was the case for most of the events I played (in 2018).”
The Scot is ranked No.256 because of his limited program but gets into the Brisbane main draw, which starts on Monday, on the basis of his injuryprotected ranking of No.2.
He could still be drawn against one of the eight seeds, however, including Rafael Nadal and Australians Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios, in the early rounds.
Nadal would in particular present a punishing test, but Murray said he missed the classic contests with his peers.
“I’d love to play against some of the big guys ... I’d rather play them late in the event, but I can’t pick and choose as I’m ranked No.250,” he said.
World No.19 Grigor Dimitrov arrived from Los Angeles yesterday for his seventh Brisbane International campaign.
Dimitrov trained for two weeks this month in Las Vegas under coach Andre Agassi.
“We are just ready. That is one of the main messages from Andre – we are ready to fight,” said the 2017 Brisbane champion and former world No.3.