Murray's hip hampering his return

Former world No 1 Andy Murray's ranking dropped as low as 839 during 2018 as he played only six tournaments, so the Scot arrives in Melbourne looking to prove he can again compete at the top level.

The three-time major winner and double Olympic champion pulled out of last year's Australian Open to have hip surgery and only returned in June on grass at Queen's Club in London and then played on the same surface at Eastbourne.

He sat out Wimbledon in July and made just four more tournament appearances, including a Grand Slam return at the US Open, before ending his season after Shenzhen in September to concentrate on working his way back to full fitness.

Murray was upbeat after winning his first match of the season at Brisbane last week but was easily beaten in the next round in straight sets by Russia's world No 15 Daniil Medvedev.

"In the second set I made a few too many mistakes," Murray said. "I think when you obviously play better players, I mean he's 15 in the world or so, they will expose any errors that you make in your game.

"There are still things that I want to achieve."

Murray confirmed he still has some pain in his hip, but said he was "in a better place than I was a few months ago," adding: "I owed it to myself to give myself the best possible shot to get back to a level I was happy with."

AFP