Despite playing just three competitive tennis matches in over a year, Andy Murray hasn't been far from the news over the last month.

The Scotsman struggled with a hip problem during Wimbledon last year, which resulted in him being knocked out by Sam Querrey at the quarter-final stage.

It was 11 months until the 31-year-old was seen on court again, suffering defeat against Nick Kyrgios at Queen's in June.

He then appeared at the Eastbourne International tournament a week before the start of Wimbledon, where he beat Stanislas Wawrinka, before losing to fellow Brit Kyle Edmund.

Murray then decided that it would be best to skip Wimbledon due to his fitness concerns about five-set matches, and would only come back when he was 100% ready.

However, news then emerged that the three-time Grand Slam champion had dropped to rank 839 in the world, as well as being the British number 23.

It's quite incredible that he has fallen so far, albeit not down to his ability, and a world away from the world number one spot that he previously occupied.

There is some hope on the horizon for Murray and his fans now though, as it has finally been revealed when he will make his latest comeback.

He has confirmed his place in the Washington Open which starts on Monday, and he will take on Mackenzie McDonald, who is the world number 77.

It means that Murray should have ample time to build his fitness up ahead of the US Open, which starts on August 27.

It's hard to tell at this point what would constitute a successful tournament at Flushing Meadows should he indeed take his place there, but it's certainly great to see him preparing to play again.

He won his first Grand Slam there in 2012 against Novak Djokovic, so he knows he can deliver.

Of course, the most important thing is making sure his hip has recovered from surgery, in order to give him a full season in 2019.

As Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have equally showed, age and injury problems are no barrier to winning the biggest tournaments in the tennis world.