Former world number one Andy Murray says he will not play singles at the US Open later this month.

On Monday Murray played his first singles match since career-saving hip surgery in January - a 6-4 6-4 loss to France's Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati.

However, he had been asked to make a decision on accepting a wildcard for the US Open prior to facing Gasquet.

"I didn't feel I was able to make that decision before today's match," said Murray, 32.

The Briton says he intends to play doubles and mixed doubles at the Grand Slam in New York, which starts on 26 August.

The three-time Grand Slam winner broke down in tears at January's Australian Open, fearing his career might be over. He believed surgery on his long-standing hip injury may end his chances of playing singles but has instead left him pain free and able to resume his career.

Murray consistently said he would not want his first tournament back to be over five sets at the US Open and playing over three in Cincinnati first left the door ajar for a potential follow-up appearance at Flushing Meadows.

The 2012 US Open champion, now ranked 324th in the world, could have used his injury-projected ranking to enter the Grand Slam but instead decided to wait until nearer the time to assess his fitness.

He had been offered a wildcard by the United States Tennis Association, but Murray said: "We were hoping to hold a wildcard until nearer the time and see how it feels.

"But the US Open were announcing their wildcards today and I didn't feel I was able to make that decision before today's match.

"I didn't want to take the wildcard today because didn't know how I would feel after the match.

"I also wanted to maybe wait and see how I felt after maybe playing a couple of matches and how I recover the next day."

Murray said he might play singles at the Winston-Salem Open next week.

He has already confirmed he will play two tournaments in China - the inaugural Zhuhai Championships and the Beijing Open, which he won in 2016 - in late September.

Encouraging signs for Murray on singles return

Murray returned to competitive action in the Queen's doubles in June - going on to win the tournament alongside Spain's Feliciano Lopez - and has played in four more doubles events.

But his ultimate goal was always returning to singles action after having an operation with former Royal surgeon Sarah Muirhead-Allwood which he described as "life-changing".

The Scot feared having the operation - where the femur head is smoothed down and covered with a metal cap - would leave him having to call time on an illustrious career which has also seen him win 45 ATP singles titles and two Olympic gold medals.

No player had ever had the operation and then resumed their singles career.

From the moment Murray emerged onto the centre court in Cincinnati, smiling broadly and holding his mobile phone - presumably filming footage which he will use on his social media accounts - it was clear how much it meant to him.

Despite all the Grand Slam finals and title-defining matches, including many against the game's greats in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, nerves were still there as he made a slow start.

Starting with a double fault, he went on to lose his serve in the opening game and fought off another break point as former world number seven Gasquet threatened to move 3-0 ahead.

Instead the Briton levelled at 2-2 after breaking back in the next game, only to trail again when Gasquet tested Murray's ability to change direction quickly on the deuce side of the court - with it being his right hip operated on - with a fizzing forehand winner for a 4-3 lead.

Gasquet, 33, served out the set with little problem, then broke again in the first game of the second set.

Murray continued to struggle to land first serves, although he did manage to stretch out Gasquet's service games without managing to break back, as the Frenchman went on to seal victory in one hour and 36 minutes.

Gasquet, who missed the first four months of the season after groin surgery, will play Austrian world number four Dominic Thiem in the second round.

Analysis

BBC Tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Hard though he tried, Murray was unable to recover from poor service games at the start of both sets.

But he moved through the gears nicely after a very edgy start, and was able to put a lot of pressure on Gasquet's serve.

With his movement improving, there was one game in the middle of the second set in particular which pointed to a brighter future.

Murray covered a lot of ground to produce a flurry of winners, but the battle-hardened Gasquet still hung on to his serve.

The crowd were very subdued. They were respectful of Gasquet's superiority, but perhaps had unrealistic aspirations for the returning Murray.

Andy Murray does not tend to sugar coat his answers.

He accepts there are reasons to be cheerful after his 6-4 6-4 defeat by Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati, but admits he is "quite far away from where I would like to be".

That is to be expected after just two weeks of dedicated practice before his first singles match for seven months.

Murray will only play doubles in New York, when the US Open gets under way in a fortnight. But you can now consider him a singles player above all else once again.

A singles player who expects to be back in his peak physical condition in January: 12 months after the second operation on his right hip.

"I think nine to 12 months after the operation is when I would expect to be getting close to the best that I can be physically - and speed wise I should be fully recovered by 12 months," Murray told BBC Sport.

The 32-year-old regularly measures his speed around the court. Those numbers are improving, he says, but they only tell you so much.

"They have improved, but they are quite linear speeds, and repeatable tests, whereas on a match court you are changing direction and having to react to balls and anticipate.

"The way to get that back is by playing matches. You can hit as many speed targets as you like, but once you get out on court it's very different. I don't feel I was very slow out on the court today, but I was not as quick as I would have liked."

Murray will decide over the next few days whether to play singles in Winston-Salem, in North Carolina next week. He will then have plenty of opportunity to practise his singles during the US Open before he heads in September to China, where he tends to play well.

Appearances in Zhuhai and Beijing are already in the diary, with the possibility of adding Shanghai to his schedule the week after. There are then three further weeks of tournaments in Europe before the regular season comes to an end.

"I'm certainly not going to go backwards from here," Murray says.

"Every time I've practised singles so far, it's all just been practice sets because I was trying to get back on the match court.

"But once you actually get out there and start playing you realise, 'Wow,' my return needs to get better; I need to improve my serve. I need to get myself on the practice court and work on those things specifically."

It will take Murray some time. It is not just that he has missed seven months this year.

He was only able to play six events in the preceding 18 months (on a hip that was still not fit for purpose), and even the very best need a considerable period to regain that match sharpness after such an age away from the tour.

Even if they are not playing with a resurfaced metal hip.

"It will be exciting and interesting to see how I get on," Murray concluded.

"It's not something that's been tried or done before in tennis. Hopefully if it goes well it will be an option for more athletes down the line."

Head coach Eddie Jones said England "need people who have got a samurai spirit" after naming his squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Jones gave shock call-ups to flanker Lewis Ludlam and uncapped wing Ruaridh McConnochie in the 31-man group.

Gloucester scrum-half Willi Heinz, 32, whose England debut came in Sunday's win against Wales, is also in the squad, but centre Ben Te'o is not.

"You need guys who are mature, who enjoy life," said Jones.

"And we've deliberately picked a squad like that because it's going to be an important factor.

"This is an enormous cultural event apart from being a sporting event and you've got to be able to cope with the different culture."

The World Cup runs from 20 September to 2 November, with Jones naming his squad weeks in advance of the World Rugby deadline of 8 September.

It will be the first time the tournament has been held in Asia and the England head coach believes this will make the competition even tougher.

"I think it is the most competitive World Cup," Jones told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport's Rugby Union Weekly.

"That's exacerbated by the fact it's in a neutral country and a non-rugby country which is going to add a number of distractions. The first couple of rounds some teams may struggle to adapt to the circumstances of the tournament, which is going to be different."

Another surprise inclusion in the squad was versatile back Piers Francis, who earned a place at the expense of Te'o, with the latter involved in an off-field incident at a training camp in Italy.

But Jones refused to confirm whether Te'o's exclusion from the squad was related to this event.

"I'm not going to go into the reasons why [Ben] is not selected. We've had that conversation with Ben and he understands it," he explained.

"Whether he agrees with it is another matter but we've had that discussion with him and he's just not in our top 31 players at the moment."

'It's nice to bring new blood in'

Northampton back row Ludlam, 23, impressed as he made his England debut on Sunday, but former international sevens player McConnochie, 27, was denied that opportunity, having to withdraw from the starting XV due to injury.

Although he has had limited opportunities to see them play Test rugby, Jones is certain both can contribute to England's World Cup campaign.

"It's always nice to bring new blood in," he said. "It freshens everything up and when you've got that enthusiasm as young players do, it helps to add to the squad.

"Ruaridh we've been watching quite closely through the club season. He's a good worker, good communicator. He plays a number of positions so he was an easy selection in the end.

"Lewis came from nowhere. We watched him in club rugby and he'd done particularly well. We thought we'd roll the dice, bring him into camp and see what he can offer.

"Every week he's got a little bit better. We saw against Wales a display that's only just the start of his career."

England captain Owen Farrell, 27, has been equally impressed by the new arrivals, especially those - like Ludlam, hooker Jack Singleton and Heinz - who earned their first cap in the warm-up match against Wales.

"A few of the lads who made their first cap brought a whole lot of energy and weren't waiting for anyone else to show them the way. They led from the front," Farrell said.

"The lads have done really well to get selected for the World Cup but there's still a lot of work to be done so we've got to get excited about doing that work."

'Players left out have still got to be ready'

England's first World Cup match against Tonga on 22 September is still over a month away and Jones has already had injuries to contend with.

Tom Curry left the pitch holding his right arm early in the second half on Sunday and Jones said that would be a "small amount of weeks' injury", while the 59-year-old added Exeter wing Jack Nowell is "on track" to recover from an ankle problem in time for the World Cup.

Henry Slade and Sam Underhill were named in the starting side for the Wales game and withdrew the day before, but Jones said Slade's knee issue was a "two or three week injury" and Underhill could return before the warm-up game against Ireland on 24 August.

Nevertheless, the England head coach warned those who had been omitted from his side that they may be needed should any more serious injuries occur before the tournament begins.

He said: "They've still got to be ready because the circumstance of the World Cup dictates that you have injuries and they could get their opportunity later down the track."

England face Wales in Cardiff for their second warm-up match on 17 August, before the Test against Ireland and a final game against Italy on 6 September.

England World Cup squad

Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester, 86 caps), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter, 12), Tom Curry (Sale, 11), Ellis Genge (Leicester, 10), Jamie George (Saracens, 37), Maro Itoje (Saracens, 27), George Kruis (Saracens, 32), Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 59), Courtney Lawes (Northampton, 72), Lewis Ludlam (Northampton, 1), Joe Marler (Harlequins, 58), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 22), Jack Singleton (Saracens, 1), Sam Underhill (Bath, 9), Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 42), Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 53), Mark Wilson (Newcastle/Sale, 13).

Backs: Joe Cokanasiga (Bath, 5), Elliot Daly (Saracens, 31), Owen Farrell (Saracens, 70), George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 56), Piers Francis (Northampton, 5), Willi Heinz (Gloucester, 1), Jonathan Joseph (Bath, 41), Jonny May (Leicester, 45), Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath, uncapped), Jack Nowell (Exeter, 33), Henry Slade (Exeter, 22), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester, 33), Anthony Watson (Bath, 34), Ben Youngs (Leicester, 86).

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – The Jason Johnson Racing team has something figured out at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway.

The No. 41 was fast all week, with David Gravel winning all three features he was in and giving the team its second NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals triumph in the past four years.

• Logan Schuchart and Shark Racing are going to win one of the sport’s crown jewels. It’s only a matter of time.

Schuchart, who finished second in last month’s Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway, fought his way through Friday night’s Hard Knox program to make the main event for the third straight year.

His Drydene No. 1s was the fastest car on the track during the second half of Saturday night’s feature, as Schuchart blasted from 22nd on the grid to finish second.

• Saturday night at the Knoxville Nationals is one hot ticket. The event sold out for the second consecutive season — with all 20,322 seats sold.

• The Hard Knox qualifying on Friday night has added a lot of intrigue to the Knoxville Nationals.

• The margin between making the A-main and having a frustrating week can be razor thin. For example, Brian Brown made a dazzling move on the first lap of his Thursday night heat race to get into a transfer position. However, an accident before the end of the lap required a complete restart, and Brown didn’t make it back into the top four.

As a result, he ended up in the night’s B main and back far enough in points that he had to run the Hard Knox program on Friday. More bad luck there put him in Saturday’s C main.

Had he simply transferred through the heat race, he’d have had a very different Knoxville Nationals experience. Other drivers could tell similar stories.

• Race fans still love Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell. A huge crowd showed up to watch the Ralph Sheheen Show Saturday afternoon at Knoxville Raceway with the two appearing together for the first two segments of the show.

Everyone was surprised when the two played to the crowd hand in hand at the end of their time on stage. Kudos to both for embracing what they mean to the fans of the sport.

• USAC midget champions Tanner Thorson and Spencer Bayston should each have quality winged sprint car rides. Both showed great speed in one-off Knoxville Nationals rides with CJB Motorsports and VanDyke Motorsports, respectively.

• Jason Sides has quality equipment. Tim Kaeding, who is racing a limited schedule in a second Jason Sides machine, again showed the speed that the Sides machines have. If he became a full-time owner, the popular free spirit could be one of the most successful owners in the sport.

• Aaron Reutzel and the Baughman Reutzel Motorsports team are factors anywhere they unload. The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions point leader and reigning champion has seven victories this season and finished in the top five during the Knoxville Nationals A-main for the second consecutive year.

• There are a lot of competitive sprint car teams and drivers that do not run full time with a traveling series. Wednesday night winner Trey Starks, Parker Price-Miller, Cory Eliason, Tanner Thorson, Gio Scelzi and 52-year-old Tim Shaffer are among those who turned in stellar performances during the Knoxville Nationals.

• Shane Stewart is one gritty dude. After a somewhat embarrassing crash during his qualifying night, Stewart fought back and put the CJB Motorsports No. 5 in the feature. It was his 19th consecutive A-main start. He moved from 23rd to finish 12th.

• The late nights of the Knoxville Nationals aren’t as easy to navigate as they once were.

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INDIANAPOLIS – McLaren Racing head man Zak Brown knows full well the rich history that the British auto manufacturer has in American open wheel racing.

After all, three Indianapolis 500 victories – one as a chassis manufacturer with Mark Donohue and Team Penske in 1972 and factory team wins in both 1974 and 1976 with Johnny Rutherford – speak for themselves.

Now, in the wake of last week’s landmark announcement that McLaren will partner with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to compete full time in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series, Brown is hoping to rekindle the McLaren magic of the past and go toe to toe with the present-day titans of Indy car racing.

Brown spoke candidly on a media conference call Monday afternoon regarding the brand’s return to the IndyCar Series and his personal enthusiasm for coming back to a brand of racing that has meant so much to McLaren as a company.

“For me, this news is super exciting,” Brown said. “When I started at McLaren, obviously things had been very tough for us, so we needed to make sure we got our Formula One team back on track. We still have a long way to go, but we’re pointed in the right direction now and making a fair amount of progress … as I think we’ve shown by our on-track runs this year on that side.

“As far as McLaren goes, we have a long history (in racing), whether it was Can Am or whether it was IndyCar in the past or whether it was sports car racing. I think that McLaren Racing, its DNA is racing, and racing in multiple series if it makes sense,” Brown added. “So we are quite excited to go back to IndyCar, especially given our history there and the importance of the market.”

The move for McLaren to return to Indy car racing on a full-season basis comes after a dismal Month of May appearance for the marque as a factory effort – missing the Indianapolis 500 entirely despite the best efforts of two-time Formula One champion and international driving star Fernando Alonso.

That was a moment that revealed many of the flaws in McLaren Racing’s journey back to Indianapolis this year, flaws that Brown is determined not to repeat as the team takes a deeper step into the pool.

“We certainly made a lot of mistakes in Indianapolis this year, and as I told everyone on the racing team, mistakes are okay as long as you learn from them and you don’t make the same one twice,” Brown explained. “We always had a desire to compete on a full-time basis, and the way we did it in 2019 was kind of the start of ramping up. However, it’s very obvious that that’s not the right way to do it. What we are able to put in place for Sam (Schmidt) will give us that full-time presence and that platform to ensure that we’re competitive and don’t repeat the mistakes we made, which really was showing up with a part-time effort and a part-time crew that worked extremely hard.

“Indianapolis is a tough place to show up for anybody on a part-time basis, and so what we structured here with Sam, we think ticks a lot of the boxes as far as the technical aspects and the commercial aspects that enabled us to go ahead and commit,” Brown noted. “I think the view of my board was either let’s be all-in or all-out, and all the reasons we have wanted to do IndyCar the last couple years have remained, regardless of our defeat at Indianapolis.

“We’re racers, and in racing you’re going to hit the wall every once in a while; you just have to dust yourself off and go back at it.”

Going back at it will begin with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March of next year, though McLaren Sporting Director Gil de Ferran – who will oversee the rebadged Arrow McLaren Racing SP Indy car operation – will be present at the final four races of the current season as a primer for 2020.

When opening day arrives on March 15, Brown said the team will be ready, with a host of backers behind them spurring them forward.

“We’ve had overwhelmingly great support, first and foremost, from the fans,” said Brown. “I think they are all quite excited to see McLaren back in IndyCar and in a full-time effort with Sam and Ric (Peterson) and our partners, who we knew would all be very supportive going into this.

“Our race team, IndyCar, and the industry itself have all showed that the response has been very, very positive, and we can’t wait to get to the start of the season next year and get the ball rolling.”

CONCORD, N.C. – The B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe) national teen defensive driving program has announced that three-time NHRA Mello Yello Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon has joined the organization as a driving  instructor and official spokesperson.

The son of 1970 NHRA Winternationals Champion Larry Dixon, Sr., the younger Dixon won NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championships in 2002, 2003 and 2010. The second-generation Top Fuel racer was named as Rookie of the Year in 1995 and is the second-winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history with 62 victories.

“I’ve had the fortune of knowing Doug since high school, both as a fellow competitor and as a friend,” said Dixon. “Doug and his team have also taught two of my children, so I am equally as impressed as a parent. I’m proud to join this great organization and use my platform to help spread the word about the B.R.A.K.E.S. program, which has saved countless lives.”

B.R.A.K.E.S. was established by multi-time drag racing champion Doug Herbert, following the tragic loss of his two sons in a car crash in 2008.  To date, the program has trained nearly 37,000 teens across the country. Teens who have taken the course are 64 percent less likely to get into an auto accident.

Utilizing vehicles provided by Kia Motors, the B.R.A.K.E.S. program offers teens extensive behind-the-wheel instruction from professional trainers including current and former law enforcement officers as well as professional racing drivers, teaching the teens and their parents how to be safer on the road.  Exercises include Distracted Driving Awareness, Panic Braking, Crash Avoidance, Drop-wheel/Off-road Recovery and Car Control/Skid Recovery.

“The addition of this multi-time Top Fuel champion attests to the passion that Larry has for our mission and his desire to bring his skills and knowledge to teens that participate in our program,” said B.R.A.K.E.S. Founder Doug Herbert.  “We’re honored and excited to have Larry as a lead instructor and official spokesperson. The behind-the-wheel guidance he will offer both teens and their parents will be invaluable and ultimately help save lives and make our roadways safer.”

GLENDORA, Calif. – The National Hot Rod Ass’n has announced that the NHRA Awards will once again return to Hollywood’s Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland on Nov. 18.

This invitation-only black-tie affair, where NHRA will honor its 2019 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world champions in all four professional categories, will begin with a pre-event cocktail reception at 5 p.m.

A formal sit-down dinner will follow with cuisine provided by renowned Wolfgang Puck Catering. In addition to recognizing the new world champions, the ceremony will feature the recipient of the Auto Club Road To The Future Award and the winner of the NHRA Manufacturer’s Cup. The official after party at the nearby Hard Rock Café will end the evening’s festivities.

Champions in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will be honored earlier in the day at Hard Rock Café, located on the Hollywood Boulevard level of the Hollywood & Highland Center, before joining the activities at the NHRA Awards where they will also be recognized.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – MX Sports Pro Racing has confirmed that 20-year-old AMA Pro Motocross racer Jonathan Mayzak has died.

Mayzak died Sunday as a result of injuries sustained Friday night before the Unadilla National in New Berlin, N.Y., when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing the road in front of the paddock on Route 8.

State Police have charged the 31-year-old man who was operating the vehicle with driving while drug-impaired and vehicular assault.  More charges are expected as a result of Mayzak’s death.

Mayzak first competed on a national stage in 2006 when he earned a gate at the 2006 AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s in the 51cc (4-6) Class, and again in 2015 in Open Pro Sport.  In 2016 Mayzak earned his professional motocross license and was assigned No. 210.  This year the No. 210 competed in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in four events in the 250 Class, including the inaugural Florida National and historic Southwick National, making the Fast 40 in both.

Mayzak and his fiancé, Kenzie Hebbelman, were planning to marry in October and take a cruise for their honeymoon. In addition to Kenzie, Mayzak is survived by his parents and several siblings, two of which are in the military serving our country.

Services have not yet been announced.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed team president and general manager Don Waddell to a contract extension.

Owner Tom Dundon announced the signing of the multiyear deal Monday, but team officials did not disclose its specific length or terms.

The 60-year-old Waddell had been mentioned as a candidate for the Minnesota Wild's GM vacancy. He has been with the organization since 2014, and the Hurricanes made their first playoff appearance in a decade during his first season as the team's full-time GM.

Dundon says Waddell's "leadership and experience are invaluable to our organization."

He was the Atlanta Thrashers' GM from 1998-2010.