Former American tennis player John Mcenroe thinks world No. 2 Andy Murray could follow Swiss Roger Federer's footsteps and take a break from the game until he is not 100 percent sure that he is fully healthy.

Murray hasn't played since the Wimbledon quarter-finals this past July. The Scot was clearly in pain and literally hobbling on Centre Court because of a hip injury.

Murray, who missed Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati, was hopeful that he would recover in time for the US Open. After a week of practicing in New York and consultations with multiple hip specialists, Murray sadly announced that he is forced to skip the event.

The world No. 2 announced on social media on Wednesday that he is also out of the Beijing's China Open and Shanghai Masters. Murray also revealed that he is also "unlikely" to feature at the Vienna Open and Paris Masters. Should the Scot quit Vienna and Paris as well, his 2017 season would be officially concluded.

Federer's decision has paid off

The great Federer made one of the smartest choices in tennis history when he decided to shut down the 2016 season after last year's Wimbledon. Federer was clearly having problems in the first part of the 2016 campaign as he was bothered by a knee injury. After a semi-final Wimbledon loss suffered to Canadia's Milos Raonic, Federer announced on social media that he is done for the year as he was set to go under the knife.

Federer, 36, who was inactive for six months, conquered January's Australian Open in his first ATP event since 2016 Wimbledon. Until this moment, the Swiss has won it all at Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, as well as went all the way at Wimbledon.

''Obviously after what Roger did...not playing for six months and doing as well as he did -- winning (the) Australian (Open), Wimbledon -- people are thinking maybe I can emulate that.

There is only one Roger Federer, but Murray, he did look like he needed a break and obviously that hip was troublesome at Wimbledon so it's a bummer but that's the way the cookie crumbles," McEnroe explained to BBC Sport Scotland.

Not that easy though

However, McEnroe mentioned that it might be easier said than done for Murray to pull off a Federer.

The two players don't have the same game-style. Federer is not shy of playing aggressive tennis, while Murray has been the definition of a grinder on the court so far in his career.

Though 6ft 3in, Murray has always been one of the fittest and most prepared athletes on Tour. The 30-year-old's game-style requires an exceptional level of fitness.

Back in 2013, Murray called it a season after losing in the US Open quarter-finals to Swiss Stan Wawrinka. Murray, who was at the time bothered by a shoulder injury, went under the knife to repair his shoulder. Murray made a comeback at the beginning of 2014 but he was clearly not at his best level during the entire season. The Scot then did a major offseason work and looked much better in 2015.

Murray is hoping to heal his hip through rest and treatments as he would like to avoid a hip surgery.

McEnroe acnowledged Murray's game is ''based on playing great defense'' and that the Scot ''needs movement''. McEnroe also confessed that he ''never felt quite the same'' when his hip started to bother him at 26/27.

''So I'm hopeful these days the way people seem to know so much more about how to recover and to get the players back on court at 100 per cent they can help Andy do that," McEnroe added.
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