Andy Murray withdraws from Dubai Tennis Championships due to hip injury and Qatar Open efforts

Published 27/02/2023 at 11:21 GMT

Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has pulled out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, due to a “recurring hip injury”, according to the tournament organisers. Should the 35-year-old's injury not be too serious, he will next be in action at the first Masters event of the season, Indian Wells, on March 8 as the clay-court season ramps up.

Highlights: Medvedev beats Murray to claim the Qatar Open title

Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships due to a hip injury after his run to the Qatar Open final.

Murray fought hard to reach the final, which he lost in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev, by winning four matches that went the distance in Doha.

The hip injury will raise eyebrows because Murray had two hip surgeries, the second of which nearly saw him retire from the sport.

Roland-Garros

'Grass is the priority' - Henman reacts to Evans and Murray losing in doubles

00:00:58

31/05/2024 at 18:13

“We regret to inform you that Andy Murray is unable to participate in this year’s tournament,” read a statement from tournament organisers.

“Andy has been dealing with a recurring hip injury that has unfortunately forced him out of Dubai. We wish Andy a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the court in Dubai soon.”

Murray was set to play Hubert Hurkacz in the opening round in Dubai, but he will be replaced in the draw by Alexander Shevchenko.

Following his efforts in Doha, the three-time Grand Slam champion admitted the long matches were making him weary.

“At my age and with some of the issues that I’ve got, I do have to be mindful of those things, and I can’t just keep going until something happens,” Murray said.

“I need to be a bit smarter with that. So I’ll chat to my team and see how I feel tomorrow. I’m flying to Dubai. Then, we’ll see where we go from there.”

Dan Evans is the only other Brit in action this week at the ATP 500 event, where Novak Djokovic will make his first appearance since lifting the Australian Open title.

Djokovic, who broke Steffi Graf’s record for the most weeks as world No. 1, faces Tomas Machac in the first round on Tuesday

Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime among the contenders expected to stop the Serbian from winning this week.

- - -

The 2023 Australian Open was live and the French Open will follow on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Roland-Garros

Fans chant 'let's go Andy' as Murray exits for potentially last time after doubles loss

00:01:19

31/05/2024 at 17:32

Roland-Garros

Murray and Evans open doubles campaign against Baez and Seyboth Wild

00:00:37

31/05/2024 at 15:44

Roland-Garros

Murray exits French Open in first round to impressive Wawrinka

26/05/2024 at 21:28

Join 3M+ users on app

Stay up to date with the latest news, results and live sports

Download

Scan me