The China Open tennis tournament on Tuesday announced the entry of three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 Andy Murray to the 2018 field.
The 31-year-old Murray won the China Open in 2016 and was unable to defend his title in 2017 due to a hip injury. This will mark his fourth appearance in Beijing, reports Xinhua news agency.
Murray’s career tally of 45 ATP World Tour singles titles includes a pair of victories at Wimbledon and one at the US Open.
His first Wimbledon win made him the first British man to earn the singles title there in 77 years. Finishing 2016 ranked number one in the world, Murray held that ranking for eight weeks.
Murray has also twice earned Olympic gold medals in singles and in 2015 he helped Britain win its first Davis Cup title since 1936. A hip injury that derailed Murray for much of 2017 continued to plague him in 2018. Not until June did he return to competition, competing in two Wimbledon warm-up tournaments.
The 2018 China Open will be held in the National Tennis Center from September 23 to October 7.
In addition to Murray, notable men’s field entrants so far include 17-time Grand Slam winner and defending China Open champion Rafael Nadal, 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro and world number three, rising star Alexander Zverev.
The women’s field is also superb, with the top 47 women’s players in the world automatically entered in this WTA premier mandatory event.