US Open: Andy Murray will not play at Flushing Meadows

Former world number one Andy Murray says he will play no part in this month’s US Open.

Murray played his first singles match since career-saving hip surgery in January – a 6-4 6-4 loss to France’s Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati

The 2012 champion had intended to play doubles in New York, but says “doubles is done for me for the time being”.

Instead, he will play singles at next week’s ATP event in Winston-Salem, before considering entering a tournament on the Challenger Tour during the US Open.

“I’m not going to play doubles at the US Open,” Murray told BBC Sport.

“My goal is to get back playing at the level that I want to on the singles court, and I’ve decided that I need to focus all my energies on that right now,” Murray added after he and Feliciano Lopez reached the doubles quarter-finals in Cincinnati.

“The US Open, doubles and mixed, can be another couple of weeks that you are slowing things down.”

Murray has taken the final wildcard for next week’s event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He will join Kevin Anderson, Denis Shapovalov, Tomas Berdych and Britain’s Dan Evans in the draw.

Most of the field are outside the world’s top 50, and some are outside the top 100, but Murray says he would have entered the qualifying event had he lost Thursday’s doubles match in Cincinnati.

“Because I want matches, and that’s what I need right now,” said Murray, who had career-saving hip surgery in January.

“It doesn’t feel like I need to play the main draw of every single tour event. I’ve hardly played the last couple of years and, having discussed with my team, after this week I think doubles is done for me for the time being.

“I need to focus my mind on getting matches on the singles court. There aren’t many tournaments between now and the end of the year.”

Once his week in Winston-Salem comes to an end, Murray will decide whether to play a Challenger event during the US Open, which starts on 26 August.

“It depends how Winston-Salem goes,” he said.

“The feeling I have had since my singles [his first for seven months, against Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati] was that I played decent, but that physically between now and the end of the year I want to get matches in so that for the beginning of next year, I’m feeling ready.

“So if I do well in Winston-Salem, I’ll know my level is good enough and I’m ready to win matches at tour level, but if not it makes sense to drop down a level and maybe play some smaller tournaments.”

The obvious event for Murray to enter would be the Challenger in New Haven in the second week of the US Open. The field there should be very strong, as many who lose in the first week in New York will choose to compete.

Murray’s other option is to return to the practice court, but given the amount of training and rehab he has done over the past couple of years, he says that is not a particularly attractive proposition.

Towards the end of September Murray will head to China, where he is due to play in Zhuhai and Beijing.

The Shanghai Masters in the following week is another option, after which Murray says he hopes to play “three or four events” indoors in Europe before the year is out. -bbc.com