Henman has high hopes for Murray comeback

TENNIS: Former British No 1 hopes Scot Andy can still compete with the top three

Tennis legend Tim Henman is crossing his fingers that Andy Murray will be able to challenge for the Grand Slams again next year as he continues his comeback from hip surgery.

The two-time Dunblane-born Wimbledon champion earned his first singles victory at tour level since January with a three-set win over Tennys Sandgren in the first round of the Zhuhai Championships in China.

It was the first positive step on the long road of recovery for Murray, who underwent a major resurfacing operation on his hip earlier this year after the problem almost forced him to retire.

The former world No 1 began his comeback in doubles tournaments, winning Queen’s alongside Feliciano Lopez, before starting to play Challenger Tour singles events in August.

And having claimed his first ATP Tour triumph since the Brisbane International on New Year’s Day, Henman revealed his admiration for the way Murray has gradually eased himself back.

“He started back on the practice court doing a lot of static stuff, then he was ready to get on the doubles court and played amazing at Queens to win with Feliciano Lopez,” said Henman, speaking as part of Jaguar’s official vehicle partnership with Wimbledon, which saw the Jaguar ambassadors lead a tennis masterclass for a group of Ace Pace competition winners.

“He built it up again at Wimbledon and with some singles matches in America in the hard court season and he is now looking to play in Asia and Europe to finish off the year.

“Hopefully he’ll continue to see that progression – there’s no doubt that his tennis game is always going to be there, so it’s much more about his fitness, strength, endurance and speed.

“If he can continue to improve that then fingers crossed he can be challenging for major titles in 2020. We certainly hope he can get back up to the level of the top three players.”

Such was the extent of Murray’s pain earlier this year, the former British No.1 admitted his first round defeat in the Australian Open could have been his final ever match.

Henman said it is always foolish to write off Murray.

“At the Australian Open it was other players and tennis officials who were having a farewell for him, but it wasn’t actually him saying ‘this is a done deal’,” said Henman.

“Then obviously going through the procedure to have the big, major knee operation – hopefully it has given him a second chance, but only time will tell.

“When you reflect on Wimbledon 2017 when he was really struggling with his hip, he got through to the quarter-finals against Sam Querrey on basically one leg. “

Novak Djokovic is on course to defend his Shanghai Masters title after beating John Isner 7-5 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

Second seed Roger Federer saved five set points in the opening set against Belgium’s David Goffin on his way to a 7-6 6-4 victory.

British No 2 Heather Watson reached the quarter-finals of the Tianjin Open after an impressive 6-3 6-0 victory over 22nd-ranked Wang Qiang and now faces Poland’s Magda Linette.

Picture: Getty. Andy Murray this week won his first singles tie.