Unfinished business spurring on Murray

Unfinished business is spurring tennis star Andy Murray on in his recovery from a career threatening hip injury ahead of this weekend’s Brisbane International.

And winning a maiden Australian Open is on top of his “to do” list before he ultimately retires.

The three-time Grand Slam champion took stock of his career when the hip injury struck him down on the eve of the 2018 Brisbane event, sabotaging his Australian summer.

NEWS: Nadal cautious ahead of Australian Open

Instead of walking away, the former world No.1 underwent surgery and emerged determined to go out on his terms – hopefully with an elusive Australian Open title to his name.

“There are still things that I want to achieve, whether I am capable of that I don’t really know,” the five-time Australian Open runner-up said.

“I don’t necessarily deserve to have one but looking back I wish I could play some of those matches again and done things differently.

“I would love to win the French Open as well but because I have been so close so many times that (Australian Open) is the one I would pick to win if I could.”

Murray was limited to just six tournaments in 2018; he plummeted to world No.256, meaning he is unseeded this time around in Brisbane.

He opens his campaign against Australian wildcard James Duckworth in the first round.

Things are getting serious…@andy_murray & @GrigorDimitrov out on centre stage today. Could we be looking at an early preview of the final? pic.twitter.com/RSnqZClGsi

— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) December 28, 2018

Murray admitted he was still in pain and simply walking around could be a challenge on his bad days.

But the 31-year-old had no regrets about refusing to quit the sport, saying he was quietly confident of returning to the level that has claimed two Wimbledon titles and a US Open crown.

“You want to go out on your own terms. If I decided to stop six months ago having not played or gotten back to a level where I can compete again, I would have looked back and regretted that,” he said.

“I owed it to myself to give myself the best possible shot to get back to a level I was happy with.

“I am able to compete at a high level but I have to back it up a few days in a row – that’s the challenge.”

GALLERY: Federer draws crowd for Hopman Cup practice

Murray admitted he would have to nurse his hip through the rest of his career.

But he has backed himself to regain his mojo at Brisbane, where he is undefeated after claiming the 2012 and 2013 titles.

“I can’t believe how quickly things changed for me (due to injury),” Murray said.

“That (accepting physical limitations) has been hard. The pain at times is hard to deal with – just walking around day to day is difficult and quite tiring.

“It’s not going to be comfortable but I will be able to get through it – I want to play as long as I can.”