Murray motivated to keep playing by smug doctor
ANDY MURRAY has revealed how a smug comment from a doctor after his hip operation acted as motivation to return to professional tennis.
Murray is set to play his first singles tournament at a Grand Slam since having a metal plate inserted into his joint in January 2019 when he takes to the Arthur Ashe court at the US Open tomorrow to play Yoshihito
Nishioka.
His presence in New York marks the end of a long road, which began way back in 2017 when the then world No.1 sustained the hip injury that derailed his career.
It was after he hobbled out of Wimbledon that a surgeon told him his professional career was over, but Murray refused to give up the ghost, even if he needed a drastic hip resurfacing operation 18 months later.
There were no guarantees that he would return to the elite level after such invasive surgery, but meeting the same doctor who had written him off gave him the fire to succeed.
“There is one person in particular that helped me,” Murray said. “It was the doctor/surgeon who told me after Wimbledon in 2017 that I didn’t have long left and you could have surgery – resurfacing or hip replacement – but you won’t play professional sport again.
“It was weird timing, I actually bumped into him the morning after I had my hip resurfacing when I took my first steps on the new hip with the crutches.
“And he walked past me in the hallway and he smiled at me and said to my wife, ‘I told him he was going to have to do this’. It just really got to me. I was not happy. I would say that was the thing that gave me the biggest motivation because at that moment I had obviously been going through a difficult time, had the operation and I felt that there was a bit of smugness to what he told me.
“That was kind of enough for me. And I was actually going to send him a bottle of wine to say thanks for the motivation once I had got back on the court competing again but I haven’t brought myself to do that yet.”
The doctor should not cop too much flak for his 2017 diagnosis as Murray announced his intention to retire just prior to the 2019 Australian Open, before opting for the hip resurfacing.
When he lost to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round, the Scot was already thinking about having the operation, but did not think it would be possible to play at a Grand Slam again.
“If you had asked me the day after I had the operation, I was in bits and would have said no,” he confessed. “For the few weeks afterwards, definitely I would have said not. But with each month that passed, yes I started to believe. I was a bit p **** d off I wasn’t allowed to play singles at Wimbledon that year even though it was only a few months after I had the operation because actually I was feeling good physically in terms of no pain.
“I didn’t really know until I started playing practice sets post Wimbledon and beat a few guys in practice in Washington – I was playing a few guys in practice sets there. I went to Canada and beat some good players in practice sets there. I was like, ‘OK, I think I am going to be alright here’.
“It was probably not until I got back on the tour and played guys in singles that I actually really believed it. That was probably a good four or five months later.
“But certainly at the time, pre-surgery and post-surgery, no I didn’t think I would be able to. But that is because I was told that I wouldn’t.
“[I was] told that if you have this operation there is a good chance you are not going to be able to play high-level singles again. And I didn’t have anyone else to look at. I was going into the dark a little bit.”
of her child, but has had several chances to equal Court’s record since her return to the tour in the summer of 2018. She has got to four finals since then, two at Wimbledon and two at the US Open – but lost all four. She has won at Flushing Meadows six times, though not since 2014, and it would be the perfect destination to claim her slice of history.
Surely Williams will not have a better chance of claiming her 24th title given some of the names that are missing from the women’s draw. Six of the world’s top 10 have decided against travelling to New York – respective world No.1 and
No.2 Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep, defending champion Bianca Andreescu, world No.5 Elina Svitolina as well as Belinda Bencic and Kiki Bertens. The women’s game is incredibly unpredictable, but the raft of withdrawals leaves it even more open. British No.1 Johanna Konta is likely to have her eyes on the prize, while Karolina Pliskova must also have serious designs on a maiden Grand Slam title.
One of the by-products of being able to stage the US Open is that no fans are allowed and it will probably be felt at Flushing Meadows more than any other tournament. The crowd is notoriously raucous, especially during evening sessions on the main show courts. What affect their absence has on the tournament remains to be seen, but it will be something to contend with. Many players have already spoken about having to find other ways of motivating themselves during a match and it could be a leveller for the lesser-ranked players.