Injury forces Murray to pull out of Basle tournament

Andy Murray leaves the pitch of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament (AP)

Andy Murray's quest to win a fourth successive title ended in disappointment yesterday when he withdrew with an injury shortly before his scheduled first-round match against Robin Haase in Basle. Having strained his right gluteal muscle, the 24-year-old Scot must now try to regain fitness in time for the Paris Masters, which begins on Monday.

Murray thinks he may have suffered the injury in his sleep. He had two training sessions on Monday, but felt a problem on Tuesday and he decided yesterday morning that he would be unable to play. "I don't know how I did it," Murray said. "I've never had anything like this before."

The world No 3 was replaced in the draw for the Basle indoor tournament by Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli, whose wild card had been withdrawn last week to allow Murray to play.

Murray plans to travel to Paris today. He is hoping to be fit for the final Masters Series tournament of the year, though he is unlikely to take any risks with the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals starting in London a fortnight later.