Aug 29, 2018; New York, NY, USA; Andy Murray of the United Kingdom hits to Fernando Verdasco of Spain in a second round match on day three of the 2018 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
September 4, 2018
(Reuters) – Andy Murray has decided to skip Britain’s Davis Cup playoff tie against Uzbekistan in Glasgow to focus on his rehabilitation following hip surgery.
The former world number one returned to best-of-five-set tennis for the first time in 14 months at the U.S. Open last week but, after hobbling to defeat in the second round, he decided to skip the Sept. 14-16 World Group playoff tie.
Murray said in an Instagram message he was sorry he would not be able to play in front of home fans in Glasgow.
“With this possibly being my last chance to compete in Scotland as a professional I really wanted to be there with the team and found this decision emotionally quite challenging,” he said.
“I had spoken about possibly coming to just play doubles but having been recommended to take a couple of weeks off hitting to continue my reconditioning I didn’t want to just show up not ready to perform to a high enough standard and ultimately let my teammates/country down.”
Along with the three-time Grand Slam champion, British number one Kyle Edmund will also miss the tie.
Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie and Jay Clarke will be joined by doubles specialists Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ken Ferris/Peter Rutherford)
