Major concerns over Andy Murray’s US Open bid as he suffers injury setback
Andy Murray’s is in a race against time to be fit for the US Open after he was forced to withdraw from his second tournament in the space of a couple of days.
Just days after he pulled out of his third-round match against Jannik Sinner at the Canadian Open due to an abdominal injury, the former world No 1 has now been forced to skip the entire Cincinnati Open.
Murray was due to face 11th seed Karen Khachanov in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Mason, Ohio, on Tuesday, but he will be replaced by a lucky loser in the draw as he has still not recovered from the strain.
It is a major setback for the three-time Grand Slam winner with the start of the US Open under two weeks away as it also ends his hopes of being seeded in New York as he won’t pick up any ranking points.
Murray’s recent run of form had seen him climb back up to No 36 – his highest ranking since he underwent career-saving hip surgery in 2019 – and a deep run in Cincinnati would have helped him to move back into the top 32.
After reaching the second round of the Citi Open at the beginning of August, Murray followed it up with wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Max Purcell in Toronto to set up an enticing match against the seventh-seeded Sinner.
However, he withdrew from the clash moments before they were due to take to court and delivered an emotional speech to fans before later revealing it the injury was similar to the one that forced him to miss the Stuttgart Open Queen’s Club Championship last year, adding at the time it took him 10-12 days to recover.
If he follows a similar recovery plan then he should be fit by the time the final Grand Slam of the year gets underway at Flushing Meadows on August 28.
In the past few days he admitted that he is still positive about his tennis future.
“I do think that I’m playing a better level than that and that’s the thing that’s positive for me, and the thing that keeps me going,” he told The Guardian in an interview.
“Providing that I keep learning and improving and working on the right things, my ranking will keep going up and I’ll win more matches against the best players.”
READ MORE: Andy Murray setback will not halt ‘inevitable’ success says former British No 1
