Cincinnati Open: Britain’s Andy Murray withdraws from Cincinnati Open with abdominal strain to protect US Open chances
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 15/08/2023 at 08:36 GMT
Andy Murray won't compete at the Cincinnati Open as he attempts to overcome an abdominal strain before the US Open at the end of August. Murray, 36, withdrew from the Canadian Open with the same issue but hopes to be fit for the Grand Slam later this month. The Brit travelled to Cincinnati hoping to face Karen Khachanov but has made a late decision to pull out to protect his chances in New York.
Auger-Aliassime ends losing streak with win over Berrettini in Cincinnati
Andy Murray has made the decision to withdraw from the Cincinnati Open after failing to recover sufficiently from an abdominal injury.
The former world No. 1 will now take more time to heal as he hopes to be fit in time for the US Open which begins on August 28.
Murray withdrew from the Canadian Open last week with the same problem and travelled to Cincinnati with the hope he would be fit enough to face Karen Khachanov in his first match.
But he has decided to pull out and will be replaced by a lucky loser.
“I’m at my highest ranking I’ve been since I had the operation on my hip,” Murray said on Monday in an interview with the Guardian. “I’m really proud of that.
“I had that operation a really long time ago. It has taken lots and lots of hard work and effort to get back to the top 40 in the world and I still feel like before the year’s out that I can push that even higher.
“I don’t think that this is like the limit for me. I do think that I can get myself much higher.”
After fighting back from years worth of persistent injuries, Murray seems to be closer to his best than ever and is able to compete with the best players in the world.
He has a 3-2 record against top-20 opponents in 2023 and managed to go all the way in matches against world No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon and another top 10 opponent in Taylor Fritz.
Despite his narrow defeat to Fritz at the ATP 500 event in Washington, one month after his Wimbledon exit, Murray was satisfied with his progress.
“I was much happier, even though I lost the match against Fritz in Washington, in terms of the way that I played the match and approach to some of the shots in my game that I’ve been working on, usually it can take a little while,” he said.
“You can work on something for a couple of weeks usually, and for it to feel good straight away. But some of the stuff I’ve been working on sunk in pretty quick and that’s been really positive.”
Murray, ranked 36th in the world - his highest ranking since 2019 - won’t be seeded at the US Open after missing the action in Cincinnati.
Fellow Brit Dan Evans was scheduled to get his Cincinnati campaign underway against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in the first round on Monday but was unable to due to heavy rain.
Both Evans and Murray have been selected for Great Britain’s Davis Cup team.
- - -
Stream and watch the 2023 Laver Cup exclusively live across Europe on Eurosport and discovery+
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement