Andy Murray withdraws from US Open due to ongoing hip problem as his injury-hit year continues
Brit hasn't played since Wimbledon, where he was knocked out in quarter-finals by Sam Querrey
CROCKED ANDY MURRAY pulled out of the US Open and admitted he could call it quits for the season.
An emotional Murray revealed the injury to his left hip which had dogged him at Wimbledon was still too painful for him to challenge in New York.
And the former world No 1 will decide in the coming days whether to follow Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in writing off the rest of 2017.
Murray was fighting back tears as he prepared to make his announcement, saying “This is actually why I didn’t want to come in here.”
But he composed himself and said: “I did pretty much everything that I could to get myself ready here and took, you know, a number of weeks off after Wimbledon.
“I spoke to a lot of hip specialists. Tried obviously resting, rehabbing, to try and get myself ready here.
“I was actually practicing okay the last few days, but it’s too sore for me to win the tournament and ultimately that’s what I was here to try and do.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be playing here this year.”
Murray first felt the long-term problem with his left hip return after his French Open semi-final defeat by Wawrinka.
Now there has to be concern whether he will be able to regain the form and fitness which has brought him three Grand Slam titles and a host of other prizes.
But the example of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who both took long injury breaks last year and have returned reborn in 2017, offers hope.
Asked if he would play again this year: Murray said: “That’s something that I’ll sit down and decide with my team. But I’ll decide on that in the next couple of days, for sure.
“There has been a lot of players with injuries this year. Obviously Roger and Rafa last year had a few problems.
“Look, I want to be back on court as soon as I can. If it means that I can play before the end of the year, then that’s what I would love to do.
“I miss competing, and I’ll try to get myself back on court as soon as I can.
“But I’ll need to make the correct decision and really think it through these next couple of days with my team.”