MAC: MURRAY RISKS SEMI-HUMILIATION
McEnroe warns Andy coming back from injury will be tough and could be embarrassing... but will DEFINITELY be worth it
JOHN McENROE has warned Andy Murray risks “semi-humiliation” by returning to tennis at Wimbledon and playing on past his peak.
Murray, who had hip surgery in January, has pulled out of his planned comeback event in Holland next week.
And the 31-year-old will now make a late decision on whether to compete at The Queen’s Club, with time running out before the start of Wimbledon on July 2.
McEnroe retired aged 33 while ranked world No.20. But the American legend did not add to his seven Grand Slam singles titles after taking a six-month break from the game in 1986 when he married Tatum O’Neal.
And the 59-year-old BBC analyst (right) said his fellow former No.1 Murray will also face a mental challenge when he will not be winning like before – especially as he would be unseeded at Wimbledon and could draw Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal in the first round.
“I carried on for about seven years – that’s a long time,” said the three-time Wimbledon champion, whose last appearance in the tournament was in 1992 when he reached the semi-finals.
“You keep giving yourself reasons as to why it’s worth it, the upside. You know, ‘It’s worth taking semi-humiliation’.
“You’re still out there doing something you love in a way. You’re not as good as you were. I’m not even saying he won’t be. I don’t know what will happen, but it will be pretty tough to come back and be better than he was, unless I’m missing something when you have hip surgery.
“It’s worse, for me personally, to not even be able to play and not participate than, say, lose and you drop to 10 in the world. Even the last Wimbledon I played, I still had myself thinking, ‘I could do this’.” McEnroe believes Murray could play Wimbledon without a warmup event on grass. But he said: “It’s just a different animal. He’s going to play because he loves to play but I’m sure he would be realistic about what he could do if he did play. “It would be tough to go a long way if he hasn’t played. When you have a hip problem you have a tendency to be more cautious.
“I had some hip issues, I felt like I lost some speed. It’s not a good feeling particularly when guys are hitting it harder than ever even when I was playing.
“And Andy, it just seems like every time they can harry, they are just going for it. If you are not feeling quite right it can be tough, it’s too bad.
“How can he know he is 100 per cent? You got me, there is no way to know. You play practice and we all know how different practice is to a match where you step on Centre Court at Wimbledon.”