Novak Djokovic's Australian Open participation is in doubt as Andy Murray replaces him at Abu Dhabi exhibition

Neither Djokovic nor Murray has played since the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the Mubadala World Tennis Championship (Getty)

Former world number one Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open participation is in doubt after he was forced to withdraw from an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, with Andy Murray taking his place instead.

Djokovic has not played since his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Tomas Berdych in July because of an elbow injury, and had been due to make his long-awaited comeback at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

However yesterday morning he was forced to pull out of his scheduled match against Roberto Bautista Agut and, in a statement published on his website, the 12-time Grand Slam winner admitted that the longstanding injury “might affect the start of the season”. The Australian Open starts on January 15.

“I am terribly disappointed that I am forced to withdraw from the Mubadala World Tennis Championship,” Djokovic wrote.

“Unfortunately, in the past few days I started to feel pain in the elbow and after several tests, my medical team has advised me not to risk anything, to withdraw from the tournament and to immediately continue with the therapies.

“I am very sad because I was eager to return to playing official matches. I enjoyed the practices and everything I did to get ready for the start of the season, including the tournament in Abu Dhabi, where I always enjoy playing.

“Now I need to accept this situation, and to wait for the results of the therapies, in order to start playing tennis again and getting back to full rhythm.

“This might affect the start of the season and the tournament plan, but the decision will be made in the following days.”

Tournament organisers subsequently announced that Murray, who is himself recovering from a long-term injury and has not played competitively since his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Sam Querrey, will now play Bautista Agut in a one-set exhibition match.

Murray arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning in an attempt to step up his pre-season preparations ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season and had initially intended only to make use of the practice courts before Djokovic’s withdrawal.

The British number one is scheduled to make his return at the Brisbane International next week, although he may yet to decide to skip the event if he feels he needs longer to recover from the hip injury that ruined the second-half of his 2017 campaign.