Andy withdraws to allow body to recover
Sir Andy Murray was this week forced to withdraw from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships due to concerns over his re-constructed hip after a punishing schedule in Doha last week.
The Dunblane ace rolled back the years as he put together a stunning run at the Qatar Exxonmobil Open – which came to an end as he lost in straight sets to world number eight Daniil Medvedev in the final. In total, he had more than 12 hours of court time.
The 35-year-old had been schedule to play at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week but withdrew as a precaution as he lets his body recover from his exertions.
Murray reached his first final of the season in Doha by winning three-set matches against Lorenzo Sonego, Alexander Zverev, Alexandre Muller and Jiri Lehecka.
Murray has made seven appearances at the ATP 500 event in Dubai, holding a 17-6 record. His best result at the hard-court tournament came in 2017, when he won the title.
2023 has got off to a strong start for the double Wimbledon champ, with impressive showings at the Australian Open and then again in Doha.
But Murray admits he has had to learn to be smarter and use more science in his preparations since he underwent potentially career-ending hip surgery in 2019.
In an interview with a national newspaper this week, he said: “The matches I had last week were physically pretty demanding.
“It was five matches in six days, the last time I did that was in Stuttgart (in June) but because of the surface (grass), the matches were physically not challenging.
“I had an issue then with my abdominal muscle and on Friday in Doha I was feeling my abs after the semi-final. Due to the experience I had last year, it was clearly a load-related thing because of the amount of tennis, so I was a bit worried.”