Andy Murray: Australian Open blow lowers expectations for ‘gutted’ Briton

Andy Murray and his comeback was one of the stories of this year, but a new injury setback has disrupted his plans for the 2020 ATP Tour campaign.

After a return to the court in 2019 that was close to a fairy tale, Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Australian Open in a major blow to his tennis comeback.

Due to a pelvic injury that has proven harder to recover from than initially expected, the three-time Grand Slam champion has pulled out of the Australian Open, as well as the ATP Cup.

Murray last played at the Davis Cup Finals, where he was restricted to appearing in one match, and had been looking forward to a sensational return to Melbourne, where last year it seemed like his career was drawing to a close.

Despite his recent setback, the outlook is nowhere near as bad now, although his fans should immediately be more cautious with their expectations about how much is possible when he is able to make a return.

“I’ve worked so hard to get myself into a situation where I can play at the top level and I’m gutted I’m not going to be able to play in Australia in January,” Murray said as his withdrawal was confirmed.

“After the AO this year, when I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to play again, I was excited about coming back to Australia and giving my best, and that makes this even more disappointing for me.

“Unfortunately I’ve had a setback recently and as a precaution, need to work through that before I get back on court competing.”

While Murray has reached a point where he is training on court after his injury, playing it safe is a sensible approach after everything he has been through.

But the slower than expected recovery from this problem serves as a timely reminder that his body’s ability to stand up to consistently playing matches at the highest level following his hip surgery remains a complete unknown.

His supporters’ hopes and dreams of him returning to Grand Slam contention are now firmly on hold.

The first sign things were not right came when the 32-year-old cancelled his festive training camp in Miami, but he had still been expected to play at the Australian Open, closing a dramatic chapter that began one year ago.

At the start of 2019, prior to his defeat against Roberto Bautista Agut in the Australian Open first round, the Briton had broken down in tears at his pre-tournament news conference and revealed the true extent of the hip pain he had been dealing with.

Murray explained he hoped to continue on until Wimbledon, but doubted he could get that far and tributes poured in from fellow players, coaches and fans around the world, which was followed by an on-court video played to him after Bautista Agut had edged a five-set thriller.

He later discussed how much he had needed that support from the tennis community in an emotional period and said if the epic match had proven to be his last, he would have been happy enough to go out on that note.

As it happened, he underwent career-saving hip resurfacing surgery, returning pain-free to the court initially in doubles and later to singles competition.

After a slow and steady start to his comeback, a remarkable victory at the European Open, sealed with a final triumph over Stan Wawrinka, had him back as a winner on the ATP Tour and prompted optimism he could once more challenge the big guns in 2020.

The Antwerp tournament was his 46th career win and while it was only at ATP 250 level, it was one of his sweetest.

After watching the Amazon documentary charting his huge struggle coping with the hip injury and the rehabilitation work related to his subsequent surgery, Novak Djokovic described Murray as an “amazing warrior”.

He won Comeback Player of the Year at the 2019 ATP awards and just this week he had talked about his hope to compete with Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer once more following his emotional return.

"“I guess we will see guys play into their late 30s and see it as a positive,” Andy Murray said.“It’s possible to keep doing it and playing until that level. But if I was still playing at 38, I mean I would be very surprised with that. You would expect Roger to finish first as he is six years older than me and Novak, five years older than Rafa.“Seeing what they are doing is fantastic. Hopefully I can compete on the court against them again before I finish.”"

That still may prove possible and 2020 could still see the return of Andy Murray to the upper echelons of the ATP rankings.

But Murray had already sought to temper expectations about the upcoming year, refusing to set specific targets and stressing he does not know how his body will cope with the rigours of regular tournament play.

Now, his withdrawal from one of the defining tournaments of his career, the Australian Open, where he had five times been a finalist before the 2019 drama, is a sobering blow.

Andy Murray will bid to return with renewed vigour in February, but this setback reminds us anything he can achieve from here should be seen as a bonus and that when he is back on court, each moment should be savoured.