Andy Murray will delay his official return to the ATP tennis until 2014 season as the recent back surgery patient withdrew from the season-ending World Tour Finals next month.
The eight-man even now has five places at stake with this week in Shanghai and three more to go during the regular season. The tournament begins on November 4.
While ticket sales should not be affected, the British public will be disappointed not to get a chance to see this summer’s Wimbledon winner perform again at home. “I’m really disappointed not to be playing this year, I love playing in front of my home crowd, it’s a great atmosphere,” Murray said in a statement. “All the players look forward to competing in London and I’ll be doing my best to qualify again for the tournament next year.”
Murray underwent a back operation in September to deal with pain which kept him from the French Open. He will however, be getting in some paid practice as he swings a racquet in late November at an exhibition in Barbados. He is then due to play in the rich Abu Dhabi exhibition the day after Christmas prior to a return to official play in January and the run-up to the Australian Open.
Murray was among four men already qualified for London: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer are the others. The remainder of the field will be decided over next few weeks of tournament play. Candidates for the remaining positions include Juan Del Potro, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet and Milos Raonic and Tommy Haas.
Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, Atp, Australian Open, David Ferrer, French Open, juan del potro, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Haas, Wimbledon, World Tour Finals