Andy Murray to end his 2018 season early after ‘positive’ few months
Andy Murray will play in only two more events this year as he wants to switch focus to 2019 so that he can get himself in the “best shape possible”.
The three-time Grand Slam winner has been confirmed for the Shenzhen Open and the China Open, but he will shut his 2018 campaign after that, meaning he will miss the Shanghai and Paris Masters.
It has been a difficult year for Murray as he missed the first half of the season after undergoing hip surgery in January.
He finally made his comeback in June, but opted to sit out Wimbledon to aid his recovery. He made his Grand Slam return at the US Open, but skipped the Davis Cup to continue his rehabilitation in the United States.
Next up is the Shenzhen event, which starts September 24, with the Beijing tournament the following week.
“I’m competing in Shenzhen this week and then next week in Beijing before calling an end to the year competitively,” he said in a video on Facebook.
“I’m gonna miss the last couple of tournaments of the year, because I have decided along with my team that I need a long period of training and reconditioning to get myself in the best shape possible for the beginning of the 2019 season and getting myself back competing for the biggest tournaments again.
“Looking forward to getting some hard training done and making some more improvements.
“It’s been really positive the last few months. I feel like I made big strides forward in the rehab from the hip surgery. With another strong training period, I’ll make some big improvements.
“Hopefully, the next couple of weeks go well in China, looking forward to it.”
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