Andy Murray might skip Australian Open, Roger Federer offers advice

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray is admittedly ready to skip the 2018 Australian Open to avoid endangering full recovery from his hip injury. Murray hasn't stepped played competitive tennis since struggling through to the Round of 8 of this year’s Wimbledon, where he was defeated by American Sam Querrey.

On Tuesday, Murray squared off against Roger Federer in an exhibition match in Glasgow, Scotland. The annual Andy Murray Live fundraiser saw Murray and Federer don traditional Scottish accessories and entertained a packed crowd at the SSE Hydro. Federer won the exhibition affair 6-3, 3-6, 10-6. After the match, the two stars addressed a joint press conference in which the Swiss Master offered words of advice to the injured Murray.

“Take your time, however long it takes. When you come back you want to be at 100 percent, otherwise the problem is you feel you just can’t beat the best at the big tournaments, so it’s wise and worthwhile to take the extra week, extra month maybe. I’m sure Andy is going to have a lot of years left, so he shouldn’t hurry, but as a professional athlete you always want to come back as quick as possible. You need to have goals but sometimes they need to be postponed,” Federer told reporters, via Fox Sports.

Andy Murray still hoping to play Brisbane International

Previously, several reports suggested Murray was expected to return at the 2018 Brisbane International, which starts on Dec. 31 and is a warm-up event for the Australian Open -- the first grand slam of the year. However, the Scot isn't ready to commit a timeline with hopes of returning to full fitness at some stage in 2018.

“Things have been going pretty well so far in the rehab, but you just never know. I’ve been training for a few weeks now. Some days I’ve felt great and some days not so good. But I will come back when I’m ready and when I’m 100 percent fit. I probably made a bit of a mistake trying to get ready for the US Open but it was the last major of the year and I wanted to give it a go. And now it’s time to give my body the rest and recovery it needs. I’ll come back when I’m ready," Murray said while addressing his injury woes.

Last year, World No. 2 Roger Federer sat out the last six months of the year to recover from a career-threatening knee injury. The extended break helped Federer redeem his career, with comprehensive victories in two out of the four Grand Slams in 2017. Andy Murray plans to follow Federer's lead.