30 LOVE FOR ANDY
Murray desperate to return and although he wants to be world No.1 he’d be happy to be ranked in the thirties just as long as he’s playing
ANDY MURRAY has revealed he will settle for being world No.30 on his return to tennis as he admitted he is still a fitness doubt for the Australian Open in a fortnight.
And the former world No.1 confirmed he will play a limited schedule this season to protect his chronic hip injury.
The Scot, who limped through an exhibition set in Abu Dhabi on Friday, is due to play his first ATP event since Wimbledon at the Brisbane International this week – his first match will be tomorrow or Wednesday.
After missing the US Open, the aim is to be fit for Melbourne on January 15. But the winner of three Grand Slams, who has reached the Australian Open five times, is not aiming high.
“I just want to enjoy playing again,” said the world No.16. “I don’t mind if it’s at No.30 in the world. I would love it to be No.1 but I just want to play.
“When that’s taken away you realise how important it is. I want to get back to playing my best tennis and winning the biggest tournaments. But if I don’t, I’m OK with that. I just want to keep playing. “When I have a few bad days I might feel like I’m playing really poorly but I might still be good enough to beat top 30, top 40 in the world, which is still a really high level. I’ll see when I get back on the match court.” Speaking on his arrival in Brisbane, Murray added: “My hip feels way better than it did at Wimbledon and way better than it did at the US Open. At Wimbledon I almost made the semi-finals and I was really struggling badly.
“So if it’s better than that then that’s a positive. I’m hoping I’m going to be OK but you never know for sure.”
Roger Federer (left) won two Grand Slams while skipping the clay-court season last year and Murray may follow suit. “I’ll probably make some changes to my schedule,” he said. “I’ll play less than I have in the past to give my body time to rest and recover.”