While the main stage was totally into the 2017 US Open Tennis Championships frenzy, Andy Murray went public with his decision to take an extended break due to a hip injury that had prevented him from producing his best tennis for the most part of 2017. Murray, 30, the former world No. 1 has no plans for the last part of the current season, and he is likely to resume play at Brisbane in January 2018. Thus, he follows the trend started last year by Roger Federer and later by Rafael Nadal, as he hopes for a similar resolution of his issues. Currently ranked third in the world, he will lose a huge pile of points in the next two months making his top 10 presence a task hard to accomplish, at least for the time being.
Andy Murray and his reign without glare
Soaring up the ranking especially in the last part of 2016 added to a sensational sense of consistency throughout the entire season, Andy Murray eventually took over a powerless Djokovic to reach the summit of men's tennis. He went on to seal the deal of 2016 'season b' winning the ATP Finals in London against Djokovic. The ongoing season should have been his march of glory as the reigning leader of the ATP World Tour. Instead, the whole world saw Andy Murray disintegrating since the very beginning.
Murray lost to Djokovic in Dubai before the Australian Open. Melbourne stood as a pivotal point of a disastrous start of the season with Murray losing to Mischa Zverev in the fourth round.
The world No. 1 at the time, the Brit wasn't able to pull himself out of harm's way as his tennis output lost in aggressiveness and sharpness. The french open saw him bouncing back to reach the semis where the first hip issues occurred. Entering Wimbledon as the defending champion, he went on to see his run end dramatically in the quarterfinals against Sam Querrey.
That match may go down as his last appearance in 2017 as he will skip Shanghai, Vienna and Paris, a flurry of ATP events he won back in 2016. As things stand at the moment, he won't qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
Next season will deliver some early blockbusters
His decision to skip the last part of the ATP calendar will impact the stage especially in the early parts of 2018.
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2018 will produce a tricky draw. Murray will lose his top-ranking status and will be thrown into the mixer of the draw. With Nadal and Federer at the summit, it won't be a surprise to have some classic blockbusters somewhere around the fourth round. Moreover, Djokovic, Wawrinka, and Nishikori are also expected to make their comebacks in January 2018.
