Andy Murray’s decision to bring his season to an early end is because he doesn’t want to take any risks concerning his recovery process, according to his mother.
Former British Fed Cup captain Judy Murray spoke about her son’s current status with reporters on Thursday at the Wuhan Open. The former world No.1 recently confirmed that he would be drawing his season to a close following the completion of next week’s China Open. The 31-year-old said that he plans to undergo an extended training block in order to be fully fit for the start of next year.
“He wants to absolutely focus the rest of the year on getting his body as ready as he can for the start of (2019),” Judy told AFP news.
“It’s been a long haul and that’s tough for anybody, but he’s incredibly disciplined, he’s incredibly resilient.”
Despite the decision, Murray’s mother believes he is in a ‘good place’ at the moment. Murray returned to the tour in June following a 11-month absence from the sport due to a hip injury. A problem that required surgery in January. Due to his absence, he is currently ranked 311th in the world.
“He loves what he does, so he’s desperate to get back. But… when you’ve been out that long, you don’t want to rush it,” she said
“I think he’s in a good place at the moment.”
This week the three-time grand slam champion is playing at the Shenzhen Open. On Thursday he scored his biggest win yet since the start of his comeback. Securing a straight sets victory over David Goffin. It is the second time this year he has defeated a top 20 player after knocking out Kyle Edmund at the Citi Open in Washington.
“I felt like in terms of the way I hit the ball, it was the best I’ve played, and I think I knew that I was going to have to hit the ball very well if I wanted to win,” Murray told atpworldtour.com after his win. “I love the conditions that we play in. Usually it’s quite humid, and the courts are a little bit faster than what we usually play on the tour. The conditions that I like are fast courts with slow balls, and with the humidity, that slows the ball down a little bit. I feel like I’m able to control the ball very well here.”
Shenzhen is Murray’s sixth tournament of 2018 and only the second where he has reached the quarter-final stage. His win-loss currently stands at 7-5.
Murray will play Spanish fifth seed Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals on Friday. Should he win, he will progress to the last four of a tournament for the first time since the 2017 French Open.
