Andy Murray has adjusted his itinerary by concluding his Asian swing ahead of schedule due to a series of disappointing outcomes.
The former world No 1 has won only five matches since the start of the hard-court season at the end of July, suffering six defeats with one of those a walkover to Jannik Sinner at the Canadian Open as he struggled with injury ahead of their clash.
The stats for the Asian swing don’t make for pretty reading as he has played four matches, winning only one, with his latest defeat was a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Roman Safiullin in the first round of the Shanghai Masters last week.
Murray was expected to continue his outdoor hard-court campaign at next week’s Japan Open, but he has pulled out of the ATP 500 event in Tokyo with no reason provided for the decision.
But the three-time Grand Slam’s 2023 season is far from over as he still has a couple of events left as he has also added the Moselle Open to his calendar.
He is next expected to take part in the Swiss Indoors with the ATP 500 event taking place from October 23-30 while he will also play in the Paris Masters.
The 36-year-old also competed in Basel last year and he defeated Safiullin in his opener before going down to sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round.
The Swiss event will be followed by the Paris Masters where Murray lost in the first round last year before he brings his regular ATP Tour season to an end on the outdoor hard courts in France.
Former French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, one of the tournament’s shareholders, reserved praise for Murray.
“He’s a player who has been with me throughout my career,” he said. “He’s won almost everything, I can’t wait to see him on the courts here.”
But Andy Murray won’t be the only big-name player in the ATP 250 main draw as top-10 players Casper Ruud and Holger Rune have also signed up along with three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka and world No 11 Alex de Minaur.
Away from the Moselle Open, Murray will bring the curtain down on his 2023 campaign at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, as he is set to be part of captain Leon’s Smith’s Great Britain squad that will face Serbia in the quarter-final.
