Injured Murray withdraws from Brisbane International

Britain’s Andy Murray hits a return during training for his first round men’s singles match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane on Dec. 31, 2017. (AFP/Patrick Hamilton)

BRISBANE, Australia: Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Brisbane International because of an ongoing problem with his right hip.
The former No. 1-ranked Murray had been scheduled to play his first match on Thursday, but notified organizers he was pulling out after failing to practice on Tuesday.
Murray was seeded No. 2 in Brisbane, where he’d been expecting to play his first competitive match since July. He joined top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who pulled out last week in a bid to continue his recovery from injury, as notable withdrawals from the season-opening event in Brisbane.
Murray had planned to use the Brisbane event as his main warmup for the Australian Open starting Jan. 15 in Melbourne. Murray has been a five-time finalist at the Australian Open.