Andy Murray rules out US Open singles return after Cincinnati Masters loss

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Alex Young @alexwsyoung13 August 2019

Andy Murray has decided against competing in the singles draw at the US Open after returning to action in Cincinnati on Monday.

The former world no.1 was making his competitive return to men's singles action seven months after career-saving hip surgery, being beaten 6-4 6-4 by Richard Gasquet in the first round.

He later announced that he plans to play only men's and mixed doubles at Flushing Meadows, but insisted the decision was nothing to do with how he had fared against Gasquet.

Murray told the ATP Tour's official website: "We were hoping to maybe hold a wild card until a little bit closer to the time to see how I feel and get some matches hopefully and a bit of practice.

"[It was] a decision I made with my team. I didn't want to take a wild card today because I just didn't know how I was going to feel after a match.

"I felt like I wanted to be fair, for me to maybe try and get a couple of matches in before making a decision like that."

Murray, who may play singles at Winston-Salem next week, looked rusty as Gasquet tested his mobility to the full, but was adamant nothing that happened on the court had influenced his decision.

He said: "If I would have taken the wild card and then not played, then I would have been getting loads of questions about my hip and, 'Why has he turned it down? Is something wrong? What's the problem?'.

Getty Images

"It was more likely that I was not going to [play] because although I did fine in the match today, physically my legs felt quite heavy at the end of the match, and that's probably not going to change a whole lot in a couple of weeks."

The Scot has nursed himself back into the game since his return from surgery, playing five doubles tournaments since June.

Additional report by Press Association.

In Pictures | Andy Murray

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