AFTER GOING UNDER THE KNIFE
JUNE JULY
JANUARY 2017 Andy enters the Australian Open as world No.1 but crashes out in the fourth round to Mischa Zverev. FEBRUARY The Scot contracts shingles after the Australian Open and spends start of the month trying to get back to full fitness. MARCH Murray wins his sole title of the season at the Dubai Tennis Championship, beating Fernando Verdasco in the final. But he ends the month withdrawing from the Miami Open with an elbow injury. The world No 1 suffers a shock third-round defeat in Monte Carlo to Albert Ramos-Vinolas then loses in the last four to Dominic Thiem in Barcelona. Murray loses in straight sets to Borna Coric at the Madrid Open. He follows that with a disastrous defence of the Italian Open, losing in the second round to home favourite Fabio Fognini. Murray saves his best for the big occasion and bulldozes his way to the French Open semis only to lose an epic with Stan since before Wimbledon. It’s got better but still it’s extremely tiring mentally when every single time you’re walking you’re feeling your hip.
“From the first minute you wake up in the day and start walking to when you lie down at night it’s tiring because you’re sore.
“I’m happy I’m going to be out of that pain now and I’ll be able to just concentrate on hopefully training and playing.
“Obviously this is something I’m going to have to manage very smartly and very closely for the rest of my career.
“I’m aware of that and I’m certainly going to make sure I’m going to do that.
“I’m just looking forward to not being in pain. I’ve always had hip pain and that’s something a lot of athletes deal with.
“There’s a difference between being a little bit sore after you play a match and actually being Wawrinka. He declares himself ready for the grass-court season but disaster is just round the corner as he slumps to a last-32 defeat at the hands of Aussie qualifier Jordan Thompson at Queen’s. Murray looks set for another crack at the Wimbledon crown, sitting two sets up against Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals and eyeing two in a row at SW19. But a hip injury that had been plaguing him for weeks, finally gets too much and his body begins to shut down. He hobbles to a five-set defeat and out of tennis for the next six months. An exhibition match against Roger Federer in Glasgow brings hope Murray is on the comeback trail as he takes a set off the legendary Swiss at The Hydro. But closer inspection reveals the star is still limping between points. Makes his long-awaited comeback against Batista Agut but loses in Abu Dhabi as fears grow for his career. Days later he withdraws from the Brisbane International and then, unsurprisingly, the Australian Open. in pain when you’re running or when you’re walking.
“That’s the tiring part. I can deal with my hip being sore after I play a five-set match but dealing with the pain in your day-to-day life just when you are walking around for four or five months at a time is different.
“That’s not something I wanted to continue with and the reason for having it done was to allow me to get back competing and play tennis because that’s what I want to keep doing. I’m not finished playing tennis yet.
“The rest of my body feels fantastic. I feel really, really good physically now apart from this one issue. The surgery allows me to extend my hip well and I’ll be able to sprint.”
Murray knows he faces a difficult path back but his renowned willingness to work hard will be a huge factor in his return. He added: “A lot of it is down to your determination, your work ethic and how well you rehab, how much you listen and do all the correct things. That’s what you’re told by the surgeons.
“Obviously we have to wait and see how all of that goes and how I recover. When I start playing again I won’t have played a match for 10 or 11 months.
“That’s a long time. But also in that period I’ve been practising a lot. It’s not like I’ve had surgery after Wimbledon and haven’t hit a ball until now.
“I was practising daily pretty much through to the US Open and then after having three weeks off post-US Open I’ve been hitting balls for the last three or four months.
“Hopefully I’ll be hitting balls on the court after seven or eight weeks. It’s not like I’m going to not hit a tennis ball for eight months and then practise for two months and then start playing again. “I made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon when I literally couldn’t walk and was in so much pain.” He added that having had the groin problem sorted out through surgery gave him the confidence to go under the knife again. Murray said: “It really helped that particular symptom I was having,. “So that’s really positive as well as that’s another thing I’ve been dealing with that has gone now.” Murray won’t attend the Australian Open but will fly home within the next fortnight and with two young daughters waiting for him they’ll provide all the necessary motivation for a complete recovery. He said: “I spoke to my wife a little bit about it. One of the things I would like to do is play until my eldest daughter is able to watch me and have a small understanding of what it is I’ve done for my living. “That’s something I really wanted to do. That’s one of the things that’s motivated me to keep playing. “That was something I had spoken about before I had the problems with my hip. That would be cool if she can come along and watch me hit some balls or practise just to see what it is I do. “I like watching and seeing a lot of the other kids when they’re on the tour with their parents and get to do a bit of travelling with them when they’re at an age when they actually understand a little bit more about what it is that they’re doing. “Obviously now I’ve had surgery and stuff, that’s something I’m looking forward to in the future.” ANDY MURRAY