Murray limped out of Wimbledon in July at the quarter-final stage, beaten in five sets by American Sam Querrey while clearly hampered by a problem with his hip.

The Scot promptly ended his season early, taking the rest of the year off to recover and aiming to make it back in time for the Australian Open.

But the 30-year-old was today forced to pull out of his proposed warm-up tournament - the Brisbane International - revealing that he had failed to make sufficient progress on his troublesome hip.

“I’m very disappointed. I came here with every intention of making a strong start to the year but sadly my team and I don’t feel that I’m where I need to be just yet to compete at the highest level,” Murray said.

"I have always enjoyed competing in front of the Queensland fans. I look forward to returning in the near future.”

The former world No 1 now faces a race against time to get himself in shape for the first Grand Slam of the year, which starts on January 15 in Melbourne.

The 30-year-old is a five-time Australian Open finalist but has lost each time and will hope to capitalise on similarly persistent injuries to Rafael Nadal (knee) and Novak Djokovic (elbow) to win his first title there.

But Murray will remain in Brisbane to continue his preparations before flying down to Melbourne for the tournament itself, which is now less than a fortnight away.

“I’m really disappointed for Andy, as I know how much he was looking forward to getting his season started in Brisbane,” tournament director Cameron Pearson said.

“As a two-time former champion, he has great memories of playing on Pat Rafter Arena and thrilling his fans.

“I wish him all the best to be ready to play the Australian Open.”