Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic urged to reconsider Australian Open participation
KEY POINTS
- Murray was previously confirmed to take part in Melbourne for the 2018 Australian Open, which begins on 15 January.
- Djokovic has not played since his loss in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Tim Henman has urged Andy Murray to reconsider participating in the Australian Open if he is not 100% fit as it will put him further back in his recovery. While Murray's body has not broken down, there are fears that he is behind schedule due to continued problems with a hip injury.
Henman also had a word of warning for Novak Djokovic, who is recovering from an elbow injury. The Serbian has not played since his loss in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon earlier this year and is expected to return to action for the first time at the Qatar Open in Doha during the first week in January.
Murray's 2017 campaign was not as fruitful as his previous campaign. He won just one title and struggled with injury during the campaign. He started the year at the top of the men's singles ranking, but has now dropped out of the top 10 in the world after ending his season early – after his quarter-finals loss at Wimbledon – due to a hip injury.
The former world number one was previously confirmed to take part in Melbourne for the 2018 Australian Open, which begins on 15 January. But the latest setback has put his entire schedule into disarray, mostly his participation in the Brisbane Open, which begins on 1 January.
"Absolutely. He's the only one that will know that. The game is tough enough as it is when you're 100 per cent healthy. So if he is 90 per cent healthy, he could win a couple of rounds in Melbourne then his body is going to give up, what's the point?" Henman told the Express.
"His career is about winning the major so he should be patient and make sure he's 100 per cent healthy. Same for Djokovic, I don't know what he's been up to. But I'm sure he'll be very keen to be 100 per cent healthy as well."
However, Henman is confident that Murray will make the right decision regarding his fitness as was apparent following his decision to pull out of the US Open.
"I think with the US Open, it was a question of so many people pulling out that he wanted to see what his options were. He tried but he didn't actually go on the court so I think he is very much aware of making sure he is 100 per cent healthy," he added.
