NICK Kyrgios has been left saddened by Andy Murray’s latest hip setback and hailed the Scot as being “good for the sport”.
Murray pulled out of the Brisbane International on Tuesday as the long-term hip injury that has sidelined him since Wimbledon was still causing him pain.
The 30-year-old revealed he is considering surgery but Kyrgios, the world No 21, hopes it does not come to that.
“It’s pretty sad; he’s definitely a fan favourite,”
Kyrgios said. “He brings a lot of the people to all these tournaments and he’s a good friend of mine.
“It’s never good seeing a guy like that get injured, especially because he’s just good for the sport. He’s a good guy as well.”
Murray’s participation in the first grand slam of the year – the Australian Open which starts on January 15 – is in serious doubt.
The former world No 1 revealed his frustrations with the injury, which has put a hold on his career, in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
He said: “In the short term I’m going to be staying in Australia for the next couple of days to see if my hip settles down a bit and will decide by the weekend whether to stay out here or fly home to assess what I do next.”
Miles Maclagan, Murray’s former coach, suggested the current world No 16 might have to adapt his game when he finally makes his return to the court.
“It’s concerning because the first option hasn’t worked out, which was a lot of rehab,” he said. “I know he’s put as much into it as he possibly could.
“It would probably be more worrying if he’d had the surgery and still wasn’t quite right, so there’s still a plan B.
“The characteristic of these great players is that when they’ve had a setback they often come back stronger, reinvigorated in the mind,” Maclagan said.
“He said he was tired, so he could come back with a fresh mentality.
“If he can get fit, it might force him to play a different sort of game, with shorter
rallies. That could be very exciting, [but] he’s got a tough road back.”
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