Murray out as big shots struggle to make Open

Australian Open tennis boss Craig Tiley is confident the season’s first grand slam won’t be reduced to last star standing with many of the game’s biggest names remaining uncertain starters.

Andy Murray, a five-time finalist in men’s singles on Rod Laver Arena, joined former world No 4 Kei Nishikori in admitting they were not fit enough to compete to the standard needed in a slam.

Murray’s hip has been an ongoing complaint and he’s raised the possibility of surgery to fix it.

“Sadly I won’t be playing in Melbourne this year, as I am not yet ready to compete,” Murray said yesterday.

It wasn’t unexpected news as Murray cut a forlorn figure in front of reporters when he pulled out of the Brisbane International on Tuesday.

Japanese ace Nishikori added to the concerns earlier yesterday when he withdrew with a wrist injury.

The former world No 4 and US Open finalist’s absence, alongside Murray, follows doubts over the fitness of grand slam giants Rafael Nadal (knee), Novak Djokovic (elbow), and Stan Wawrinka (knee).

Tiley remained buoyant, saying: “[We are] not dissimilar to where we were in 2017. We’ve got 128 men and 128 women.”

In addition to doubts around four of the sport’s so-called Big Five and Nishikori’s withdrawal, world No 8 Jack Sock, due in Auckland for the men’s ASB Classic at Stanley St next week as defending champion, quit his Hopman Cup match on Tuesday after hurting his hip in a nasty on-court fall in Perth.