Murray’s season ended by groin strain

 

Originally published on: 30/11/11 16:26

Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a groin strain.  

Unable to compete at his best while nursing the injury, the world No.3 said the decision was necessary to avoid him doing any further damage ahead of the Australian Open.  

Murray had moved gingerly during his straight sets defeat to David Ferrer in their opening round robin clash on Monday and had treatment on his groin during the first set changeover.

Today, the Scot revealed how he had agonised over the decision before ultimately announcing the end of his season late on Tuesday afternoon after missing a scheduled practice session at 1pm. 

“I woke up this morning still sore,” said the Scot. “I was going to hit at 1 o’clock. We chatted for about two hours… about what the right thing to do was. I was trying to find reasons why I should try to play. 

“But you know, there was no real positive to coming out and playing because yesterday I was really unhappy on the court. I wasn’t enjoying it at all.

Doubly disappointed to pull out of a tournament on home soil, Murray added:

“This is one of the best tournaments in the year, one that I think me and all of the players look forward to playing [but] I couldn’t give anywhere near my best.” 

The news comes on the same day that Murray committed to playing at the Brisbane International ahead of the Australian Open in January, but the Scot is confident he will be rested and ready to compete ahead of his latest Melbourne challenge.  

“Because the last two weeks has been pretty much rest for me, I should be fine to play there [at the] start of the year,” he said.

World No.9 Janko Tipsarevic will take up Murray’s place in the draw and the Serb faces Tomas Berdych in the afternoon session on Wednesday.

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