Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley has been in touch with Scot Andy Murray. Tiley claims world No. 3 Murray is eager to leave his mark next season. A good campaign at the Australian Open in January would be a perfect beginning to the season for the Scot.
Murray, 30, is preparing and getting ready to make a comeback to competitive action. Murray hasn't played a match since his Wimbledon quarter-final exit. Big-serving Sam Querrey beat a clearly-injured Murray to reach the semi-finals of the third Grand Slam of the season this past July.
Overall, it has been a disappointing and frustrating season for Murray. The Scot's 2017 season has been marked by injuries and setbacks, which affected his campaigns at Grand Slam and Masters 1000 events. The 30-year-old shrugged off shingles and an elbow injury earlier this year.
Murray is now trying to do the same with a hip injury. The Scot's hip caused him troubles at Wimbledon and forced him to take a break. However, the 30-year-old has been extra precautionary with the injury after the grass Grand Slam event. He wants to have it fully healed before he returns to action.
"I can tell you that in talking to Andy, he has been training and he is preparing for having a great year in 2018," Tiley revealed when speaking earlier this week in Melbourne, per Mike Dickson of the Daily Mail.
Murray won't be lacking motivation
Tiley believes Murray will be motivated and eager to make amends for the 2017 season next year. Murray's only winning run this year came in Dubai in February. The 30-year-old hasn't captured any Grand Slam or Masters 1000 championships this season.
On the other side, the greats Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have been dominant forces so far in 2017.
The two players have split Grand Slam glories this year. Nadal ended champion at the French Open and US Open. Federer won it all the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Both have also captured a couple of Masters 1000 titles this campaign. Nadal and Federer have had an extremely good season so far, while the same can't be said for Murray.
"How much would this year have hurt him, to watch over the entire year Roger and Rafa share four grand slam titles - he would not have liked that," Tiley claimed.
Murray wants more success
Tiley also believes Murray won't be settling for anything less than big achievements when he comes back. Former world No. 1 Murray has three Grand Slam titles in his collection at the moment. The Scot lost the top rankings spot to Nadal during the recent U.S. swing.
Though not official yet, many believe Murray is done with this season. The Scot has pulled out of multiple events since Wimbledon, including the last Grand Slam of the season -- the US Open. The 30-year-old made it clear on his social media that he is unlikely to play the Vienna Open and Paris Masters.
Skipping Vienna and Paris would officially put an end to Murray's disastrous season. He is expected to make a comeback at the beginning of 2018 in January.
"As competitive as Andy is, we know he's back and he'll want to improve his current ranking of number three in the world and getting back to number one," Tiley opinioned
