Andy Murray is on course to make his return in 2018 after posting a video on social media showing him serving at full speed.

  Slowly but surely getting there🎯🎯🎯 A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray) on Oct 21, 2017 at 1:10pm PDT

The former world No.1 has not featured on the ATP Tour since his quarter-final exit to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in July because of a hip problem.

Murray was troubled by the injury during his entire campaign at SW19 and he opted to take a break to ensure his body was fully recovered, meaning a withdrawal from the US Open and missing out on the end of the season ATP World Tour Finals, which he won in 2016.

He is not the only player out of competitive action, with Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic also eyeing a 2018 return.

Australian Open organisers suggested this month that Murray would be read for the opening grand slam of next year, and the Scot's latest Instagram post adds weight to those claims.

Accompanying a video showing Murray thundering down a serve, the Briton posted: "Slowly but surely getting there."

The Australian Open gets underway in Melbourne on 15 January, with tournaments in Brisbane, Qatar, Auckland and Sydney beforehand that could give Murray the chance to shake off any rustiness.