LONDON: Five months ago Andy Murray was pondering walking away from the sport permanently due to a serious hip injury. Now, he is training on the grass courts at the Fever-Tree Championships ahead of his eagerly anticipated return to the ATP Tour.
The three-time grand slam champion last played a competitive match at the Australian Open, where he lost in the first round to Roberto Bautista Agut. It was during that tournament where he admitted that retirement was on the cards due to his health. Following that match in Melbourne, a video was played on the main screen featuring tributes to Murray from his fellow players. Moments after, he vowed to try to return.
True to his word, Murray underwent hip resurfacing surgery. A procedure which involves inserting a metal pole into his joint. Doubles specialist Bob Bryan underwent the same operation last year. It was a decision that has changed the life of the three-time grand slam champion.
“I feel lucky, pretty relaxed. I didn’t expect to be in this position.” Murray told reporters about his comeback on Sunday.
“I didn’t know how I would feel If I went and have the operation, but it has been brilliant. It has been life-changing for me from where I was.’
“I’m looking forward to getting back out there. I don’t know what to expect. I am not putting any expectations on myself.”
Slowly getting back into the swing of things, Murray’s immediate focus lies in the doubles. The week he will be playing alongside Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, who won the Queen’s title back in 2017. Making it his first ATP doubles match on the grass since 2015.
“He’s a great player. As soon as you hit the ball with him, you realize that he still has the feeling, the touch.” Lopez said in tribute to the Brit.
“I’m really happy that he is able to play tennis again. That is the most important thing. I’m very happy to share the court with him this week. It’s going to be nice, it’s going to be fun.“
Whilst his current focus is on the doubles, Murray is eager to return back to singles competition. So far in his career, he has won 67 titles and has spent 41 weeks as world No.1. His trophy collection includes 14 Masters 1000 titles, three grand slams, and two Olympic gold medals.
“My goal is still to get back to singles. That is what I would like to do ultimately.” Murray states.
“Six to eight weeks ago I was chatting with my team about the best way to get back onto the court again. We felt doubles would be a good option to test myself.”
The low point
The journey to where he is now has been far from simple for Murray, who openly admits that he lacked interest in the sport at one point. Since Wimbledon 2017 he has only been able to contest eight tournaments. Winning back-to-back matches in only two of those.
“There were a number of times over the past 18 months where I did want to stop and didn’t want to play. I was getting no enjoyment out of tennis at all. Whether that was training, practice or matches. Winning matches, I wasn’t bothered – it wasn’t fun.” Murray reflected.
“Now, I like playing tennis. I’m a fan of the sport. I’ve played it since I was a kid and I want to keep playing if I can.”
Whilst the enthusiasm is back, the chances of the 32-year-old winning another big title are up in the air. Something Murray knows all too well himself.
“It is nice to be winning Wimbledon and major tournaments, but hardly anyone gets the opportunity to do that. There are still loads of playing who still loves and enjoy the sport without winning the big competition. I hope I’ll be able to deal with that absolutely fine as well.”
Nevertheless, he does believe he could follow in the footsteps of his brother Jamie later this year and claim the doubles title at Wimbledon. Something that would be a true testament to Murray’s talent in the sport. Jamie is a two-time champion in the mixed doubles.
‘Yeah, I think it’s possible but it doesn’t matter either way,’ he said. ‘I would like to but I don’t mind if I don’t. I would say it would be unlikely because I’ve not played many matches. ‘And doubles on grass, it’s not like you sort of ease yourself into matches a little bit, points are over pretty quickly, you need to be quite sharp, it’ll depend on how quickly I can my reflexes and things like that back. It’s been OK in practice but obviously, matches is a different story.’
At Queen’s, Murray and Lopez will kick-off their campaign against top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
