ALLAN THE MAN

Andy Murray has announced his withdrawal from the 2013 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The World No. 3 underwent back surgery in September and is forced to withdraw from this year’s season-ending finale at The O2 in London as he continues his rehabilitation ahead of the 2014 ATP World Tour season.

"I'm really disappointed not to be playing this year, I love playing in front of my home crowd, it's a great atmosphere,” said Murray. “All the players look forward to competing in London and I'll be doing my best to qualify again for the tournament next year."

Andre Silva, Tournament Director, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, said: “It’s unfortunate that Andy will be unable to play in this year’s tournament. He’s had a historic year on the Tour and of course he’ll be missed. We wish him all the best as he continues his recovery from surgery, and we hope to see him back stronger than ever for the 2014 season.”

Only the world’s top eight qualified singles players and doubles teams qualify to compete at the season-ending event. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer are the other three singles players to have already qualified for this year’s tournament. Five singles berths remain up for grabs with four weeks remaining in the regular ATP World Tour season. Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet currently hold down the fifth to ninth spots in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

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