The Asian Age

MURRAY PULLS OUT OF DUTCH TOURNAMENT

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London, June 6: Andy Murray’s hopes of being fit enough to play at Wimbledon have taken a fresh hit after he pulled out of his planned comeback next week in The Netherland­s.

The former world number one, who has not played a competitiv­e match since he was knocked out of the Wimbledon quarter- finals last July due to a hip injury, underwent surgery in Australia in January after pulling out of the Australian Open.

“Unfortunat­ely I won’t be ready to play in Hertogenbo­sch,” the British three- time Grand Slam champion posted on his Facebook page.

“I was really excited to play there for the first time but I’m still not quite ready to return. I am still aiming to play in the coming weeks, but I want to be 100 percent when I do return. Thanks as always for the support.”

Having only just returned to the practice courts, Murray faces a race against time to be fit for Wimbledon, which starts on July 2.

The 31- year- old will make a decision on whether he will enter Queen’s, in London, which begins on June 18, next week. “Andy Murray has to withdraw from the Libema Open. The former world number one has not recovered in time from his hip operation in January and will have to postpone his comeback on the ATP tour,” said a statement on the tournament’s website.

Murray, who has slipped to 47th in the world, said in a promotiona­l video released Tuesday that he was “getting closer” to playing again following his frustratin­gly long injury lay- off. “It’s been very slow. I’ve been out getting close to a year now, which is a lot longer than expected,” he said in the video. — AFP

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