Murray 'ready to go' in Dubai after shingles
Andy Murray says he has recovered from a bout of shingles as he prepares to return to action at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week.
The British world number one has not played since losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open five weeks ago.
Also in the Dubai draw is Roger Federer in his first tournament since winning his 18th Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
“I’m fine now, I’ve been training flat-out for the past few weeks,” 29-year-old Murray said.
“I was a bit sick for 10 days, a couple of weeks, after I got back from Australia.
“I feel fresh and ready to go here. I had shingles. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great. I had to go easy for a little while, so I wasn’t able to push that hard in training when I got back into it.”
Murray, who lost in four sets to unseeded Mischa Zverev at the Australian Open, said he was not sure if the illness had started developing while he was playing in Melbourne.
Murray is the top seed in Dubai and faces Tunisian world number 47 Malek Jaziri in the first round, while Federer is in action on Monday against Frenchman Benoit Paire, ranked 41.
US Open champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland is seeded second and takes on Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur in the first round.
Briton Dan Evans, up to a career-high ranking of 44 after reaching the last 16 in Melbourne, faces Germany’s Dustin Brown in round one.
Murray plays on day one in the doubles, partnering Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic against Evans and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.