Prior to the Qatar Open, Murray played in the exhibition Mubadala World Tennis Championship, where he lost in the semi-finals to David Goffin before beating Milos Raonic in the third-place play-off.

In the semi-final he beat Tomáš Berdych (Murray's hundredth career win against a top ten opponent) in straight sets.

[3][4] Murray entered the Australian Open as the top seed, and began his campaign for a first title in Melbourne with straight-set wins over Illya Marchenko, Andrey Rublev, and Sam Querrey.

Murray followed this up with a victory against Lucas Pouille to reach the final, where he beat Fernando Verdasco in straight sets to win a first Dubai title.

[7] After missing a month due to an elbow injury, Murray competed in the Monte-Carlo Masters where he received a bye in the first round before defeating Gilles Müller in straight sets.

[8] In the Barcelona Open, Murray advanced to the quarterfinals after a walkover over Bernard Tomic and a straight sets victory over Feliciano López.

[10] Murray was the defending champion at the Italian Open however his title defense ended in a straight sets defeat against Fabio Fognini.

[12] Murray then played at the Queen's Club Championships where he was the two-time defending champion, however he lost in the first round to Jordan Thompson in straight sets.