Rising Australian star Nick Kyrgios is feeling extremely sad by former World No. 1 Andy Murray’s withdrawal from the Australian Open.
The Briton ended the suspense about his participation in Melbourne on Thursday when he released an emotional statement citing excruciating pain in his hip as the reason to pull out of the event.
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion has been bothered by a hip injury since the beginning of 2017 and was forced to bring a premature end to his season after his shock Wimbledon loss at the hands of Sam Querrey of America. However, in spite of a lengthy rest and treatment on his hip, Murray has been unable to find a permanent cure to the long standing problem.
And Nick Kyrgios made known to the world that it was quite upsetting to hear the news of Murray’s most recent hip setback.
“It’s pretty sad; he’s definitely a fan favorite,” 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.”
Miles Maclagan, Murray’s former coach, though backed the 30-year-old to make a successful comeback to the men’s circuit, but he wasn’t sure about the time of his return. Maclagan however, acknowledged that Andy would have to make subtle changes in his game, probably stop engaging in long rallies to avoid spending a lot of time on the court against his opponents.
“The characteristic of these great players is that when they’ve had a setback they often come back stronger, reinvigorated in the mind,” Maclagan commented.
“He said he was tired, so 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) for now he’s got a tough road back.”
