Andy Murray's recent news ruins the efforts of all those that had already filled out their men's singles draws for the 2017 Us Open. Murray announced on Saturday that he won't be playing in the 2017 US Open about 24 hours after originally appearing in the draw as the No. 2 seed. The problem is Murray's hip and he mentioned recently that it has bothered him since losing in the semifinals of the 2017 French Open to Stan Wawrinka.

According to Murray (qtd. at USOpen.org on August 26th): "obviously had the issue with the hip over what's actually been since my match with Stan in Paris.

Did pretty much everything that I could to get myself ready here...I obviously spoke to a lot of hip specialists....but it's too sore for me to win the tournament and ultimately that's what I was here to try and do. Unfortunately, I won't be playing here this year."

Draw complications as 2 seed pulls out

The news of Murray's withdrawal jumbles around the draw as he was a top player. It's not as simple as just inserting a lucky loser into the draw where Murray's name was, which is what would happen in a smaller event. It's true that such a player will find a spot in the tournament, but he doesn't get Murray's No. 2 seed. Marin Cilic and Sam Querrey are two players that got moved around as the draw took on a different complexion.

Anyone that already filled out their brackets for their office pools or online competitions will have to go back and make fresh picks with the new-look draw.

For Murray, him missing the US Open is not a shocking announcement. There was talk about Murray doing himself a favor by missing the US Open and the balance of the season after Wimbledon.

For ranking implications, he did have a chance of getting back to No. 1 although it would have been dependent on him doing very well and both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer doing poorly. Looking ahead, Murray may yet announce that his season is over as he said that was a topic he would address "in the next couple of days, for sure." Should he miss the balance of the season and aim for activity in January again then his ranking slide would be severe as all of five titles would go undefended.

Murray was 4th favorite

Murray pulling out of the tournament takes the fourth betting favorite out of the picture. Murray was +900 with 888Sport, between both Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev on the favorites list. Murray also joins a huge parade of top players missing from the tournament. That list includes him, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori, Wawrinka, and Milos Raonic. Three of four semifinalists from last season is out of the tournament before it starts meaning that if Gael Monfils should suffer a defeat ahead of the semifinals then the final four would have a completely new look from last season. Murray himself made the quarters last year.
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