Surgery sets back Murray

Andy Murray underwent surgery on his right hip Monday and said he hopes to be back playing in time for Wimbledon.

The formerly No. 1ranked Murray, a threetime major winner, has not played a competitive match since a quarterfinal exit at Wimbledon last July.

Murray has been told to expect a 14-week recovery period and he is targeting a return to the court by June.

“I underwent successful right hip surgery at the St. Vincent Hospital in Melbourne,” Murray wrote on his Facebook page. “I look forward to returning to competitive tennis during the grass court season.”

The 30-year-old Murray, though, accepts he will have to reduce his workload on court.

“I’m certainly not going to be putting in the same amount of tournaments and effort to try to get to No. 1,” Murray told British media. “I’ll certainly be more considered in the amount of tournaments I play, even though I play a conservative schedule anyway in comparison to most of the players on the tour.”

• Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the Australian Open, with her wild-card entry reallocated to Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia.

Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, has been involved in a custody dispute involving her son, born in 2016.

The Australian Open starts Monday at Melbourne Park.

Defending champion Serena Williams has already withdrawn, saying her game wasn’t back to a level where she believed she could contend for the title four months after giving birth to her first child.

Tomljanovic will play in the Australian Open main draw a fourth time. Her best result is the second round.