All the woes and pain of Andy Murray’s troubled season hit a dramatic pitch on Saturday when he withdrew from the US Open. Citing the hip pain that has dogged him for several months, he said he was unsure if it will require surgery – having already had an operation on his back four years ago – or if he will play again this season, but his mood was decidedly downbeat.

The recently dethroned world No1 said he would discuss with his team in the next few days how much time he needs to recover before resuming tennis. There is a distinct possibility he could follow the example of last year’s finalists, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, who have quit the tour through injury until the start of next season.

Murray, who last missed a slam four years ago at Roland Garros, was still hobbling slightly at practice earlier in the day but not with the pronounced inconvenience that cut him down when he lost to Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. He has not played in the six weeks since.

In a brief and emotional statement to the media, Murray said: “This is actually why I didn’t want to come in here. I have had the issue with the hip since my match with Stan in Paris. I did pretty much everything I could to get myself ready and took a number of weeks off after Wimbledon. I spoke to a lot of hip specialists, tried resting, rehabbing, to try to get myself ready.

“I was actually practising OK the last few days but it’s too sore for me to win the tournament and, ultimately, that’s what I was here to try to do. Unfortunately, I won’t be playing .”

Asked if he had considered having an operation, he said: “I spoke to a number of specialists about it to get the best advice possible. When you speak to a lot [of specialists], there are different views and opinions on what the best thing to do is moving forward. I’ll definitely make a decision on that in the next few days.

“I certainly wouldn’t have been hurting myself more by trying to play. It was more a question of whether it would settle down. I kind of ran out of time. Maybe if I’d been able to take a little bit more time off …”

Pausing as he contemplated the seriousness of his predicament, he added: “I have never had to take any time off because of my hip before, so we were hoping that by taking a few weeks off and really reducing the load I was putting through it, that I would be OK by the time the US Open came around. Unfortunately that’s not been the case.”

Murray’s announcement, which came as a shock to all but those closest to him only a week after Rafael Nadal ended his 41-week reign as the No1, has thrown this tournament into disarray before it starts on Monday. Marin Cilic, the fifth seed who has had his own injury problems recently, takes Murray’s spot as the second seed, according to grand slam rules, and will play Tennys Sandgren on Monday. Querrey moves into Cilic’s position, with Philipp Kohlschreiber replacing the American. The lucky loser Lukas Lacko joins the main draw.

Earlier, Roger Federer, who is a slight favourite ahead of Nadal to win the title, commiserated with the growing number of players who have been cut down by injury in the late stages of this season. “I didn’t foresee that the defending champ [Wawrinka] and the finalist wouldn’t be here, and that Andy was going to struggle this year,” Federer said.

“The guys who are hurt lately, it’s mostly because they are 30-plus. Wear and tear takes its toll. Maybe some players have just had enough of playing hurt and told themselves: ‘When I come back I just want to be 100%, not always playing at 85, 90 or 95%.’

“When somebody is injured, somebody else wins. We saw that last year when Rafa and me weren’t around; somebody else stepped up. Always somebody seems to take advantage. You have got to be in the right place at the right time, and be healthy and fresh. It’s a huge opportunity for guys ranked outside of the top 10.”

The Swiss, who turned 36 this month, took a week off after losing to Alexander Zverev in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal to ease his aching back, then missed Cincinnati as further insurance; neither would have happened a couple of years ago, before he went all mortal on us and twisted his knee while turning a bath tap for one of his four children in Melbourne.

In an effort to comfort the multitudes, Federer said on Saturday: “I have been on the practice courts since last week, playing sets the last few days, and I’m really happy how I’m feeling.” On Wednesday, however, he described the nagging back pain as merely “much better”. There is sufficient grey in his pronouncements to encourage hope in those rivals still standing.

Murray agreed that Federer’s six-month break to recover from knee surgery last year, before coming back to win the Australian Open then Wimbledon, was a comfort and inspiration to him. He would do his best to emulate him, he said.

“If I get myself fit and healthy, there is no reason why I can’t,” Murray said. “I have been practising here and have been competitive in practice, but I’m not moving close to how I can when I’m healthy. Obviously there has been a lot of players with injuries this year. Roger and Rafa last year had a few problems.

“I want to be back on court as soon as I can. If it means that I can play before the end of the year, then that’s what I would love to do. I miss competing. I’ll try to get myself back on court as soon as I can. But I’ll need to make the correct decision and really think it through these next couple of days with my team, and then make that decision.”

Nadal, speaking before Murray’s withdrawal, blamed the switching of balls from one tournament to the other as a contributory factor in the mounting injuries among leading players. “It is a very bad decision to play Montreal, Cincinnati with one kind of ball and play here with a different kind of ball. They are not even similar. That’s very bad for the wrist, for the elbow, for the shoulder, seriously.

“When you come from clay to grass, of course it’s different. But if we are playing at the US Open with the Wilson [ball] why don’t we play the whole part of this season with the same ball? That’s something that will help in terms of health.”

Nadal added: “Don’t forget we are not 21 any more. Stan is 32, I am 31 and a half almost. Novak is 30. Andy is 30. It’s normal we have had some [problems]. Don’t forget that [Pete] Sampras probably at my age was not playing tennis, [Bjorn] Borg was not playing tennis. A lot of great players were not playing tennis at our age.

“It’s new for them – for Novak and Andy, who have missed a couple of tournaments, and for Stan the same. But I tell you one thing: I missed much more than them.”