Struggling Murray pulls out of Cologne event

Cologne, October 18: Andy Murray has withdrawn from the upcoming ATP tournament in Cologne due to injury.

The former world number one was listed on the official draw as being absent due to a hip problem.

That is reported to be an inflammation of a psoas muscle, which Murray did not want to aggravate.

Cologne is staging back-to-back tournaments on the men's tour, with Alexander Zverev picking up the title from the first of those on Sunday.

Murray had been due to play the Cologne Championships, which starts on Monday, and had been drawn to play Serbian world number 166 Danilo Petrovic in round one.

On paper, that represented a more favourable draw than his recent first-round tussles, which have seen him lose early in the French Open to Stan Wawrinka and then at the Cologne Open to Fernando Verdasco.

Murray, however, will not compete and will hope to recover full fitness in time to play the Paris Masters, where the main draw begins on November 2.