Andy Murray responds to online poll on Twitter ahead of Australian Open

What's the story?

Andy Murray, who was the World Number 1 late last year, has since dipped to the 16th position in the world rankings at the moment given his prolonged absence from competitive tennis due to a long-standing injury concern. He was set to mark his return to the court with the Brisbane International which begins on New Years' Day and subsequently the Australian Open in Melbourne.

However, when "The Tennis Podcast" conducted a poll on Twitter with the statement that, 'who would play in Melbourne', Murray garnered the lowest amount of votes and thereby finished with 45% 'yes' on the said poll.

In this respect, he chose to respond to the poll, with a sarcastic reply about how everyone was very sceptical about his chances.

Everyone very skeptical on my chances?

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) December 27, 2017

In case you didn't know

Murray has been away from the international circuit for quite a while since Wimbledon due to a hip condition. He lost to Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon quarterfinals and pulled out of the US Open a mere two days before the competition.

However, he did make a rare appearance in November for a charity match against Roger Federer wherein he won a set against the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion.

The heart of the matter

Andy Murray is slated to take part in the Brisbane International in the next week for his name features on the entry list, however, his delayed departure to Australia has given rise to speculations amongst the fans of the game which was evident in the poll conducted by,

The Tennis Podcast on Twitter regarding which players were most likely to feature in the Australian Open, later next month from the 15-29th of January. Andy garnered the lowest number of 'yes' votes and even responded to the tweet wherein he stated that "Everyone very sceptical on my chances."

What's next?

Given Andy's personal response to a fan poll tweet, it remains to be seen whether he actually takes to the court after the long injury lay-off. He will still hope to begin his season in Brisbane as a preparation for the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Author's take

Tennis is a sport which has seen some major comebacks in the last year particularly, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal ruling the roost akin to old times, claiming all the four Slams amongst themselves. Thus, it shouldn't come as a surprise if the rest of the pack in the likes of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, commence 2018 with renewed vigour and energy on the tennis court.