Andy Murray withdraws from tournament to make US Open intention clear

Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week's Atlanta Open. The former world No 1 was set to play the ATP 250 before going on to Washington but his next tournament will now be the ATP 500 in the US capital as he tries not to overplay ahead of the US Open, after getting injured in a Wimbledon warm-up tournament.

Murray took a last-minute wildcard into last week's grass tournament in Newport following his early exit at Wimbledon. The 35-year-old started the grass season strong with a semi-final appearance in the Surbiton Challenger and a run to the final in Stuttgart but injured himself during that championship match against Matteo Berrettini, losing in three sets.

The abdominal issue derailed his Wimbledon preparations as he was forced to stop practising serves and pulled out of the ATP 500 at the Queen's Club before he failed to make it out of the second round at the All England Club. And the three-time Grand Slam champion looks to be avoiding making the same mistake ahead of the US Open by cutting down his schedule.

Express Sport understands that it was unlikely Murray would play all three of the tournaments across Newport, Atlanta and Washington - and it's next week's ATP 250 that he has opted to skip before returning to the 500-point Citi Open the following week.

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The good news for Murray fans is that the world No 50 remains healthy and in form, having reached the quarter-finals in Newport where he lost to Alexander Bublik in what was the fourth meeting between the pair this year. He will be hoping not to tire himself out before the final Grand Slam of the year, with two Masters 1000s in Montreal and Cincinnati between Washington and the US