Former world No. 1 Andy Murray has withdrawn from planned events in Montpellier and Rotterdam in February in a further delay to his comeback from a recent pelvic injury.
The 32-year-old Scot has not played since Britain's opening match of the Davis Cup in November because of bruising in his pelvic area and already had pulled out of the recent ATP Cup and the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on Monday.
"The bone bruising is taking longer to heal that first thought, so I won't be playing in Montpellier or Rotterdam in February," Murray said in a statement via his management team on Thursday. "I don't want to rush anything or put a timeline on my recovery, I'm going to listen to my body and step back on the court to compete when the time is right."
Murray is continuing to work hard in the gym, and earlier on Thursday he posted a photo on Twitter of part of a training session under the title "Grinding."
Murray had resurfacing surgery to his right hip Iess than 12 months ago, an operation he took to improve his quality of life, more than to give him a chance to return to the ATP Tour.
Against the odds, he made a successful comeback, winning the doubles titles with Feliciano Lopez of Spain at London's Queen's Club in June in his first event back. He made his comeback to singles in Cincinnati in August and crowned his return by winning the European Open title in Antwerp in October.
Earlier this month, Tim Henman, the former top-five player and Britain's captain at the ATP Cup, speculated that the injury might be linked to Murray's hip surgery.
"From what I understand, he has got a bit of bone bruising in his groin, so it is not actually the hip itself," Henman told reporters. "Is it connected? You would have thought so.
"But I still am not overly concerned. There is just no point in risking anything. He has made such good progress. It's frustrating that he has got a different injury. I would definitely still take a long-term view."
Murray is now unlikely to return to competition before March.