Murray on his way to Brisbane

Injury-plagued former world No.1 Andy Murray will arrive in Brisbane on Saturday to prepare for next week’s Brisbane International after losing his comeback match against Roberto Bautista Agut.

Murray, who has not played since Wimbledon due to a hip problem, lost the one-set match to the Spanish world No.20 in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

There has been doubts hanging over his participation in Brisbane and the Australian Open, but the 30-year-old Scot boarded almost immediately after going down 6-2 to Bautista Agut.

Murray has given little away either about the precise nature of his hip injury or his recovery but delayed his departure to Australia, having originally intended to travel before Christmas.

The 30-year-old had intended just to practise with the players competing in the tournament in Abu Dhabi, which is staging the pre-season event, but he answered the organisers’ call following Novak Djokovic’s late withdrawal due to an elbow injury.

That in itself seemed positive but from the start it was clear Murray was well short of his best.

The limp that was such a talking point at Wimbledon was still very much in evidence and his movement was hampered when dragged out wide on his forehand side.

A helpful net cord allowed Murray to get on the board in the fifth game when he had faced points for 5-0, and he did improve in the latter stages.

The Scot said in an on-court interview broadcast by Eurosport: “I felt better as it went on. I was a little bit slow at the start.

“Roberto is one of the best players in the world and when you haven’t competed at this level for a while it takes a long time to get back. I need to keep improving for sure.”