Andy Murray has decided to start the season in Australia for the next three years. Whether it will always be the tournament in Brisbane is still questionable.
Andy Murray is making long-term plans and has now announced how and where he wants to start the next three years into the season. In a statement, the currently injured Briton announced that the start of the year will be in Australia – in 2018,’ 19 and’ 20.
“Starting a season in Australia prepares you for a strong season and I’m looking forward to playing there over the next three years,”the 30-year-old said in a statement. Murray had already announced in September that he would like to start the year 2018 at the tournament in Brisbane and promised to start there. Some of the top players gather there and spend the remaining weeks before the Australian Open completely on the continent. A Roger Federer chose this path in 2017 – with success, as is well known.
Whether Murray will also join Brisbane in the next two years is still uncertain. The World Team Cup will be reintroduced into the tournament calendar from 2019, which will also be held in Australia at the beginning of the year. In order to create the same conditions as at the tournament in Brisbane, the organizers are planning to have enough prize money and ATP points for the world rankings. That’s how the ex-number-one could be poached.
For Murray, it will be important to collect practice at the start in 2018. The second half of the season had been missed by the three-time Grand Slam Champion due to hip problems. Recently Sir “Andy” has returned to the square and is working on his comeback.
However, the British rider, who has slipped to third place in the world rankings, has many points to defend right at the beginning of the year. With the final in Doha and the title in Dubai, an optimal start to the season is necessary to avoid a further drop. However, there is hope for the Australian Open because of his early retirement. In the current year, he had failed sensationally in the last sixteen at Mischa Zverev. If Murray is at the top of the field, he will be able to score a good number of points right at the beginning of the year.
The men’s world ranking list