The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Hip hip hooray! Murray makes winning return
TENNIS: Legend wins doubles title at Queen’s in first event since surgery for career-threatening hip operation
Former tennis world number one Andy Murray made a winning comeback in the sport as he was victorious in the doubles at Queen’s yesterday.
Just five months after hip resurfacing surgery, the former Wimbledon champion won the men’s doubles title with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
The Scot, 32, underwent surgery in January on his troublesome hip.
He joined with Lopez yesterday to beat Britain’s Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Sam at Queen’s Club.
Murray’s mother, Judy Murray, Tweeted ‘Mother’s Pride.’ and added under a photo of Murray and Lopez ‘One for the mantelpiece.’
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Tennis just hasn’t been the same without Andy Murray. So good to see him back. Congrats to him and Feliciano Lopez.”
Comedian Miranda Hart Tweeted ‘Joyous. We’ve missed you @andy_ murray You say you haven’t found a mixed doubles partner so this is me formally putting my hat in the ring.’
While former tennis star Martina Navratilova said ‘How great to have @ andy_murray back playing and congrats to him and also to @feliciano_lopez for winning both singles and doubles at #QueensTennis.’
Andy Murray has left the door open for a potential return to singles at the US Open in August.
The Scot completed a remarkable winning comeback from career-saving hip surgery just five months ago with victory in the doubles at Queen’s Club alongside Feliciano Lopez.
Prior to the Fever-Tree Championships, the two-time Wimbledon champion suggested he would keep faith with doubles until after the grand slam in New York, which starts at the end of August.
But following a successful and, crucially, pain-free week in west London, Murray will have a rethink.
“If I keep progressing, I would like to try to play singles,” he said.
“I think I have a couple of options after Wimbledon – either I continue with doubles but start training and practising singles through the US Open swing, and then try and maybe play singles after that.
“Or I take a longer break postWimbledon of maybe, let’s say, a month or six weeks, to get myself ready for singles, and then try and play close to the US Open time.
“But I don’t care really either way. “It would be nice to play at the US Open but if I don’t, look, I got so much enjoyment and happiness after winning a first-round doubles match here that, you know, that’s enough.”
It seemed at Queen’s that was not enough, though.
The Scot, who was close to retiring in January as he was struggling to walk without pain, let alone play tennis, strolled off with the silverware at his first attempt back.
Murray and Lopez – the latter ‘fresh’ from winning the singles title less than an hour earlier – beat Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram of the USA 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 10-5 after a third-set match tie-break.
Murray had insisted after their firstround victory that winning was not his number one priority this week but the three-time grand slam champion has clearly not lost the appetite for a battle.
The fledgling partnership was 5-1 down in a first-set tie-break but fought back to level, and took it when Ram pushed a forehand wide.
The second set went the way of Salisbury and Ram after Murray dropped serve, and like so many matches during Murray’s career, it went to the wire.
Lopez, who must have been running on empty, somehow conjured up a series of stunning winners in the match tiebreak to secure his own personal double and an unexpected, but welcome victory for Murray.
He was indebted to Lopez, who, for the past couple of days, has been playing
If I keep progressing, I would like to try to play singles. ANDY MURRAY
his own version of winner- stays-on.
The 37-year-old had spent just short of five hours on court playing three different matches on Saturday, getting through to the singles final before returning to what this week has seemed far more important, the doubles.
In yesterday’s final, against Gilles Simon of France, Lopez let a secondset tie-break slip at 4-2 up to take it to a decider, and almost inevitably another tie-break.
Lopez came out triumphant after another two hours and 49 minutes of combat.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “It’s tough to believe.
“I won this tournament in 2017. That was the best win of my career. And then I did it again two years after, and then I won the doubles half-an-hour after that!”
Lopez had a break of just 12 minutes after his semi-final win over Felix AugerAliassime on Saturday before he walked back onto court with Murray to finish their quarter-final against British duo Dan Evans and Ken Skupski.
Fading light had seen play halted the previous evening with Murray and Lopez having taken the first set 6-4 and on serve at 4-5 in the second.
Lopez held serve to level the set, and Skupski and Murray followed suit to take it into a tie-break.
A swashbuckling Murray backhand from the baseline put them 5-2 up and the Scot wrapped up a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory with a smash.
Lopez and Murray opted to stay on court, waiting for next opponents Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
The reigning champions, presented a big step up in class, but somehow Murray and Lopez triumphed again.
Having taken the first set, a stunning Murray forehand out wide secured a break towards the end of the second.
But the 32-year-old promptly dropped his serve to take it to a tie-break, which Kontinen and Peers won to level the match.
However, in the subsequent match tie-break, Murray and a presumably exhausted Lopez staggered over the line to win 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 10-7.
Scotland’s Gordon Reid was edged out in the final of the wheelchair singles by doubles partner Alfie Hewett.
The 21-year-old second seed from Norwich beat Reid 6-2 7-5 in an hour and 28 minutes.
Reid and Hewett returned to the court just one hour after their title clash for a meeting with Belgium’s Joachim Gerard and Swede Stefan Olsson in the doubles final.
The British pair were never able to find their best tennis and lost out to the Australian Open champions.