Dunblane ace is recovering after hip op
Andy Murray is targeting a summer return to tennis after undergoing successful hip surgery this week.
The Dunblane ace, who had initially planned to return to action at the start of the year after an extended injury break, went under the knife on Monday and now hopes to be back for the grass court season later this year.
He announced last week that surgery was an option, albeit not his preferred one, after he had failed to recover from his hip trouble as he had hoped.
Andy posted on social media to confirm that the procedure had gone well and he was recovering at the St Vincent Hospital in Melbourne.
He added: “I’d like to thank Dr John O’Donnell and all of the staff for looking after me. I look forward to returning to competitive tennis during the grass court season.
“Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and support over the last few days. I’ll comeback from this.”
The two-time Wimbledon champion followed this up with a photo from his hospital bed, saying that he was feeling “positive” and “looking forward to starting rehab”.
It has been reported that he hopes to be back on the court hitting tennis balls in around six to seven weeks, and is confident that he can be back competing at the top level.
Murray’s grandfather Roy Erskine spoke to the Observer last week – just hours after the athlete revealed that his latest injury setback would cause him to miss the first major of the year, the Australian Open.
The 83 year-old said: “It’s important that he listens to what the specialists are telling him to make sure he gets himself right.
“We all want to see him back on the court and we hope he gets there soon, but we wouldn’t dare try to predict the future and look too far ahead.”
The 30 year-old tennis hero, who has fallen to number 19 in the world, has not featured in competitive action since Wimbledon last summer.
He took an extended break to rest the hip which had been causing him considerable pain and discomfort.
After an aborted attempt to play at the US Open he decided to end his season there and then and has only played a couple of exhibition matches - against Roger Federer in November in Glasgow and against Roberto Bautista Agut in Abu Dhabi just after Christmas - since Wimbledon.
Big brother Jamie and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares finished off their Australian Open preparations when they lost in the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha at the weekend.
The No 1 seeded duo lost 6-2 7-6 to No 2 seeds Oliver Marach (Austria) and Mate Pavic (Croatia).