Murray continues singles comeback with spot at European Open

Andy Murray will compete in the European Open in October as he continues his singles comeback.

Former world number one Murray has been gradually stepping up his involvement in the ATP Tour since he underwent hip resurfacing surgery earlier in 2019.

The 32-year-old eased his way back to fitness by playing doubles, before entering the singles competition at the Western & Southern Open earlier this month, losing 6-4 6-4 to Richard Gasquet in the first round at Cincinnati.

A first-round defeat to Tennys Sandgren at the Winston-Salem Open followed on Monday, with Murray subsequently suggesting he would consider dropping to Challenger level in order to build some form.

Exciting news! Andy Murray plays the #EuropeanOpen ! @andy_murray #ATPTour #tennis #Antwerp #Belgium pic.twitter.com/bxH80gkpjd

— European Open (@EuroTennisOpen) August 21, 2019

Murray had already signed up for September ATP events in Zhuhai and Beijing and has now scheduled another appearance in Antwerp in October, with the player and the European Open announcing his involvement on Wednesday.

“With Andy Murray on our tournament poster, we are now reaching absolute world class and taking the European Open to an unprecedented level in Belgium,” Dick Norman, tournament director of the ATP 250 event, stated.

Murray added on Facebook: “Excited to head to Antwerp in October for the European Open, hopefully see you there!”

The Briton, who had already ruled himself out of the singles at Flushing Meadows, confirmed after the Gasquet defeat he would not be taking part in the doubles at the US Open and indeed would not be involved in that form of the game for the foreseeable future.