• Tennis

Murray: Never easy to return from injury

Andy Murray had back surgery in September © Getty Images

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Andy Murray has admitted that coming back from injury is not as easy thing to do, but the Scot is looking forward to making his return to the circuit.

The Wimbledon champion, who was named 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday, underwent an operation on a troublesome back injury in September, and was forced to miss the rest of the season - including the ATP World Tour Finals at London's O2 Arena.

He was due to make his comeback at an exhibition event in Barbados last month, but with the tournament being cancelled, Murray is due to step onto court and into competitive action for the first time since he went under the knife at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Boxing Day.

"I've been training and having rehab every day and will continue to do so right up until just before Christmas when I fly to Abu Dhabi," Murray said.

"Getting back to playing competitively is the next step in my preparations for the new season, which starts for me at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship."

Murray will be taking on world No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his first match in an event that will feature the top two players in the world, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

And after missing the last few months, Murray is keen to see how he will fare against the established names in his efforts to fully recover.

"Coming back from injury is never easy and the line-up this year is so strong but it's exactly the test I need to see where my game is at. I'm looking forward to being part of what is always a great tournament," he said.

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