Murray's withdrawal leaves Konta flying flag

Andy Murray has withdrawn from the US Open due to an ongoing hip injury.

The world No 2 struggled through Wimbledon with the injury, losing in the quarter-finals to Sam Querrey.

His prospects for Flushing Meadows had looked positive when he travelled to New York last weekend, but, after a week of practice, Murray decided the hip was simply too painful.

The Scot, who looked close to tears, said: “I did pretty much everything I could to get myself ready here, took a number of weeks off after Wimbledon, spoke to a lot of hip specialists, tried resting, rehabbing and was practising okay the last few days, but it’s too sore for me to win the tournament.

“Ultimately that’s what I was here to try and do, so unfortunately I won’t be playing this year.”

Murray headed to the press conference room after practising with Frenchman Lucas Pouille, and it was apparent on court that he was still limping.

The 30-year-old must now decide what to do moving forward and whether to follow Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori, who have all brought their seasons to an early end because of injury.

Murray said he would make a decision “in the next couple of days”, with surgery an option he may consider.

Annabel Croft rates Johanna Konta as a “major contender” for the US Open title.

With Murray out, British hopes in New York predominantly lie with the British women’s No 1 and world No 7 Konta is one of a remarkable eight women who could end the tournament at the top of the rankings.

The 26-year-old has already made two grand slam semi-finals, handling the pressure of expectation at her home tournament at Wimbledon last month superbly before losing to Venus Williams in the last four.

Croft said: “She brings such a high intensity every time she’s on the court. She makes players have to play at such a high level to beat her because of that almost machine-like application to what she’s doing.”