By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday February 27, 2023
Andy Murray has opted for rest instead of playing this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai. The 35-year-old Scot, currently ranked 52, pulled out for precautionary reasons.
“Andy has been dealing with a recurring hip injury that has unfortunately forced him out of Dubai,” the tournament said in a statement. “We wish Andy a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the court in Dubai soon.”
Murray has had an excellent start to 2023, reaching the third round at the Australian Open and playing the final in Doha. Remarkably, the Scot has saved match points in three of his victories. At Doha he saved a trio of match points to defeat Lorenzo Sonego, defeated Alexander Zverev, then later saved five match points to defeat Jiri Lehecka in the semifinals.
He was due to face Hubert Hurkacz in the first round at Dubai, and is replaced by lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko.
Murray talked of the need to be smart about his scheduling, given that he’s 35 with a very real history of injuries, including two hip surgeries, in 2018 and 2019.
"At my age and with some of the issues that I've got, I do have to be mindful of those things,” he said after dropping Saturday’s final to Daniil Medvedev in Dubai. "I cannot just keep going until something happens. I need to be a bit smarter with that."