Murray aims to begin Asian swing in Shenzhen

Andy Murray intends to start the Asian swing of the ATP Tour at the Shenzhen Open in September.

Murray is on the comeback trail from hip surgery in January and hopes to return for the grass-court season this month.

His long rehabilitation has picked up pace this week after getting back on the practice courts following a setback, but he was forced to pull out of next week’s Libema Open in s’hertogenbosch, which was his scheduled return to the tour.

The two-time Wimbledon champion will make a decision about whether to play at Queen’s next week, which will likely have a huge bearing on whether he competes at SW19 – the scene of his last competitive match in July 2017.

Whatever happens in the British summer, he hopes to have been long back in competitive action by the timeoftheshenzhenopen, having already committed to playing the American hard-court swing in the build-up to the US Open.

On his entry to the tournament in China, which precedes the Beijing Open and Shanghai Masters, and where Murray won on his only previous visit in 2014, he said: “I look forward to returning to Shenzhen to play at this year’s Shenzhen Open.

“I enjoy playing in China and I always appreciate the crowd support there. I have some great memories from the last time I played, especially the final.”

Tournament director Leon Sun added: “Andy is one of the all-time greats of the game.

“He has achieved almost everything there is to achieve in the sport. It will be a great opportunity for the Shenzhen fans to see him play in person and we look forward to welcoming him to Shenzhen.”

Gordon Reid lost in two semi-finals at the French Open yesterday. The 26-year-old scot was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by Japan’s Shingo Kunieda in the wheelchair singles and, along with partner Alfie Hewett, lost 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles to Frederic Cattaneo of France and Sweden’s Stefan Olsson.