Andy Murray plans to trim 2018 tennis schedule
"I'll probably make some changes to my schedule this year"
Tuesday 2 January 2018 08:07, UK
Andy Murray plans to trim his schedule in the new season to prevent a recurrence of the injuries that blighted his campaign in 2017.
Murray, who has struggled with a persistent hip injury since a quarter-final exit at Wimbledon in July last year, pulled out of the US Open and dropped to 16th in the world rankings.
And he says he has adjusted his schedule to play less in 2018 in a bid to avoid further injury.
I'll certainly play less than I have in the past to give my body time to rest and recover.
"I'll probably make some changes to my schedule this year," Murray, who will participate in the Brisbane International, told reporters. "I'll certainly play less than I have in the past to give my body time to rest and recover.
"I would want to play as long as I could physically do it, and most of the players would feel the same way... giving yourself breaks, especially as you get older, is very important and something that I'll certainly be looking to do."
Former world No.1 Murray will play in his first competitive match since July against Ryan Harrison in the second round on either Tuesday or Wednesday after the American beat Leonardo Mayer 6-4 3-6 6-2 on New Year's Day.
"My hip feels way better than it did at Wimbledon," he said. "At Wimbledon, I almost made the semi-finals. So if it's better than that, then that's positive.
"But playing the matches and getting used to that intensity again and how you recover from a match is what is important. And I'm hoping I'm going to be okay, but you never know for sure until you go through it."
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