Andy Murray withdraws from Marseille Open as hip surgery looms ahead of decision on his future career

ATP officials have confirmed that Murray will not play in Marseille next month as he weighs up potentially career-saving or career-ending surgery on his injured hip

Andy Murray has yet to decide whether to have surgery on his injured right hip despite pulling out of the three tournaments he was due to play next month.

A spokesman for Murray confirmed on Friday that he had formally withdrawn from the tournaments in Marseille, Montpellier and Dubai but said that the Scot had made no decision yet on whether to have another operation.

Earlier this week Murray said that he would “probably” have a resurfacing operation on his hip, which he first injured two summers ago.

The two-times Wimbledon champion, who has flown home following his first-round defeat at the Australian Open, said here that he was contemplating one of two options: taking a break from tournaments and training, which would enable him to make this summer’s Wimbledon his farewell event, or having the operation, which might spell a definitive end to his career but would hopefully alleviate the pain he has been suffering for more than 18 months.

Speaking after his defeat last Monday, Murray revealed that he would not regret bowing out in the Melbourne defeat given the incredible atmosphere that the match took place amongst, with a tribute from the who’s who of tennis being played on the big screen for him to watch giving him the perfect send-off if it is to be his farewell performance.

“If I had got smoked I would have been like: ‘S***, I don’t want that to be the last match that I play,’” Murray said. “But because of the way the match went and actually how I finished the match, I literally couldn’t have done anymore.

“That was my maximum. My hip was completely gone at the end of the match. I couldn’t have done any more. It was an amazing atmosphere. It was brilliant, so that would be a nice way to finish as well. I think I would be able to deal with that being my last match.”

Murray initially hoped to battle through the injury to reach Wimbledon in the summer, which would have been his career swansong.

But by undergoing a second operation, Murray is putting that participation in major doubt as his career lies in the balance, given there is no guarantee that he will recover in time to play at SW19 or indeed ever resume his career in the future.