Great Britain’s Andy Murray is scheduled to undergo minor back surgery next Monday to correct a disc problem in his lower back. Murray’s back problems kept him out of this year’s French Open and now will likely keep him from playing in the World Tour Finals in November. Although Murray hasn’t ruled out his entire schedule, his aim is to be “fully fit for the next season.”

The British star’s decision to skip Roland Garros due to his back problems should provide him with increased confidence that undergoing surgery now and taking a break should help him in the long run. As we all know now, Murray’s results following the French Open included titles at Queens Club and Wimbledon. 

Murray’s injury is a testament to the vitality of smart scheduling in the world of tennis. Taking a page out of Rafael Nadal’s book, he is making what should be viewed as a very reasonable and intelligent sacrifice. It seems as if Murray is choosing an appropriate time to handle his injury issues. With all four majors out of the way, an absence from the rest of the season would not do significant harm to his ranking.

Assuming that Murray misses the rest of the season, he will drop 1270 points from Tokyo, Shanghai, the Paris Indoors, and the World Tour Finals in London. As far as the grand scheme of the rankings goes, this loss would not be too serious for Murray. It would be worse to continue playing with his injury, make it worse, and be unable to put up formidable defenses of his points at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami early next year, which add up to nearly 2400 points total.

Murray fans and Brits disappointed in their man’s absence should rejoice in the fact that he made the honorable decision to help his country get back into the Davis Cup World Group I before undergoing back surgery. Besides the points that Murray has to defend in Melbourne, Indian Wells, and Miami, a 2014 Davis Cup run must also be on his mind. Great Britain will begin its campaign next year with an away tie against a beatable United States squad.

More broadly, if Murray decides not to compete in the World Tour Finals, it will have larger implications regarding which eight players make the trip to London. The last time Murray did not play the World Tour Finals, previously known as the Tennis Masters Cup, was 2007.

Currently, only Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray have qualified for the World Tour Finals. The first player who would serve as an alternate in the World Tour Finals is US Open semifinalist Richard Gasquet. Thus, if Murray gives up his spot, Gasquet would be the eighth and final player in the World Tour Finals based off today’s rankings.

When the dust settles, this break should do more good than harm for the Brit. Murray admitted that it was difficult to transfer the passion and drive he inserted into his Wimbledon run to the summer hard court tournaments, so ending his season now seems like a viable way to halt the less positive flow of energy.

In short, the next few months should allow Murray to recoup his back, and possibly more important, recoup his mind.