Videos Live Scores Podcasts Opinion Interviews Business of Sport Inside Story Football Cricket Tennis Formula One Golf NBA UFC UAE Racquet Sports Fitness

Andy Murray’s long-awaited return at Queen’s speaks volumes of his dedication but big battle still lies ahead

Stuart Appleby

18:03 17/06/2018

Andy Murray will step onto the tennis court at Queen’s Club on Tuesday for his first competitive match in 342 days.

Eleven long months have passed since the last time we saw him in action, that being a five-set quarter-final exit to American Sam Querrey at Wimbledon last year.

The Scot’s troublesome and long-term right hip injury forced his 2017 campaign to come to a premature end after that.

Wear and tear caught up with a man who, let’s not forget, was World No1 at the time and had to fight tooth and nail for it, over-playing in the latter part of 2016, to reach the summit of men’s tennis for the first occasion in his career.

In a sense, after that, a natural slump was always going to come for the then 30-year-old but he could not have foreseen what was coming, even though he has become accustomed to long spells on the sidelines before.

An enforced break from tennis, post-Wimbledon and between July 2017 and December of the same year, should have helped him solve his chronic hip pain but that unfortunately didn’t prove to be the case.

Murray tried to muster up a return at this year’s Australian Open in January but realised the only solution to rid himself of the problem – and take a gamble at that – was to have surgery on his hip in Melbourne.

The road back since has felt long, if only a matter of months in 2018, with several false downs where the three-time major winner looked like returning sooner than his scheduled appearance in west London this week.

Murray, who faces the mercurial and unpredictable Nick Kyrgios – a great friend of his – in his opening match, has “zero expectations” about how he moves forward from here and with SW19 on the horizon next month.

He is definitely right to play down his return, given he has dropped down to 157 in the men’s rankings and only made a last-minute call to play at Queen’s minutes before the draw was made.

Indeed, the fact he decided to play Queen’s based on how well he felt getting up in the morning after playing back-to-back practice sets with Brit Cameron Norrie spoke volumes and is not the best sign of where he is at.

Keeping expectations low is a good thing, but it is worrying he has revealed he still experiences hip pain. Moving forward, that will be tough for him to contend with mentally, especially on grass – a surface notorious for its slippy nature early on in tournament play.

With all that said, if one sportsman was to complete a miraculous comeback and get back to his best, it would be Murray. He is a man who prides himself on complete professionalism.

If Murray cannot come back, then who can? When you factor in the superb physical and technical support team he has always had working with him, it goes to show how difficult the journey back is, whoever you are.

As we have seen with Novak Djokovic, with the Serb also having had surgery this year – on his elbow, post-30, the slide can be quick and brutal in tennis even if you are on the match court.

Results haven’t gone to plan for him and Djokovic is in a difficult place about where he goes from here. However, for starters, Murray will see him at Queen’s along with Stan Wawrinka who also features in a stacked draw.

The evergreen Roger Federer, who turns 37 in August, is at his vintage best physically and along with Rafael Nadal has gobbled up the past six Grand Slams between them, so in a sense, Murray has to keep believing that his best is not behind him.

Federer is a freak in the case of how he has stayed virtually injury-free but he has benefitted from a low-impact, seamless playing style – Murray, Djokovic and Nadal haven’t had that luxury.

It would be great to see Murray mimic that of a Federer and enjoy and upturn in fortunes during the latter stages of what has been a remarkable career, in which he has virtually nothing left to prove.

It is not time to judge where he is at yet, nor after Queen’s. He needs several more months before the jury can be truly out. Still, Murray faces a huge uphill task.

In his absence on tour, the likes of Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov have yet to step up and win majors, which will give the 31-year-old hope there is still a chance for him to use his experience to effect in the second-half of the season.

The tendency is always to look ahead in sports and at what’s next. In Murray’s case, it feels like his return to the court should be savoured and the emphasis on how he pulls up short-term.

More from international-tennis

ONE Championship three-weight king reacts to praise from UFC champ Islam Makhachev

ONE166: Qatar – Anatoly Malykhin makes history on incredible night in Middle East

ONE 166 Qatar: Amir Aliakbari impresses on otherwise tough night for Middle East fighters

ONE 166: Qatar card made official as key fighters pass hydration and make weight

Video: Press conference gets heated ahead of historic ONE 166: Qatar showdown

ONE 166: Qatar – The three title matches set to grip the fight world this week

Most Popular