INNSBRUCK, December 22, 2015

World number 63 Andreas Haider-Maurer announced on Tuesday that he is going to skip the ATP 250 event in Chennai next January starting the new season one week later in Auckland.

The 28-year-old Austrian was forced to finish his so far most successful tennis year 2015 earlier than planned due to an inflammation at his right heel. He played his last tournament in October at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna, where he lost in the opening round to Kevin Anderson.

Unfortunately, recovery process is going slowly, which led him to the decision to postpone his personal season kick-off to 18 January, competing in New Zealand.

“I still feel some pain when moving on the court from left to right. Consequently, it does not make sense to start the season in Chennai,” Haider-Maurer states in a press release.

“With the start of the new year, I will not be at 100%. After the Australian Open, I will play the South-American-swing, where I have to defend my points of reaching last year’s semi-finals at the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Not later than then, I hope to be back at my best level. My goal is to finish the season within the top 50,” the Austrian explains and added that he extends his sponsorship partnerships with the Niederösterreichische Versicherung. The insurance company joins adidas, Wilson, Simacek and Sport.Land.Niederösterreich in order to support Haider-Maurer in 2016.