Murray undergoes hip surgery, eyes Wimbledon return
Send a link to a friend
[January 09, 2018]
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Three-times grand
slam champion Andy Murray underwent hip surgery on Monday but is
optimistic about his chances of returning in time for Wimbledon and
believes he can still challenge for major titles.
The 30-year-old Briton has not played a competitive match since
hobbling to defeat by Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon quarter-finals
six months ago and last week he withdrew from the Australian Open.
"Today I underwent successful right hip surgery at the St Vincent
Hospital in Melbourne," Murray said on Facebook.
"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 grasscourt season," he added.
"Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and support over the
last few days. I'll come back from this."
Murray, who ended 2016 as world number one, has slipped down to 19th
in the rankings but the Scot is insists he is not a spent force.
"I'm not finished playing tennis yet. I'm going to be competing at
the highest level again," Murray, talking from his hospital bed, was
quoted as saying by British media.
"I'm very optimistic about the future - the surgeon is very happy
about how it went."
CONTINUE RECOVERY
Murray is expected to return home in a week or two to continue his
recovery and rehabilitation.
The twice Wimbledon champion and reigning Olympic champion has made
it back from surgery before after having an operation to his lower
back at the end of 2013.
He went on to win a second Wimbledon title in 2016 and played
arguably the best tennis of his career.
Last year, however, his hip began to cause concern at the French
Open where he reached the semi-finals and he was walking with a limp
throughout Wimbledon.
While he faces the possibility of almost a year out in total, Murray
says if he can return to 95 percent of his best he can still compete
for the game's biggest prizes.
[to top of second column] |
Great Britain's Andy Murray during practice Action Images via
Reuters/Tony O'Brien
"The surgeon felt that my hip will be feeling better than it did a
year ago," Murray said. "Obviously, I was still doing fine a year
ago - I was ranked number one in the world.
"I'm certainly not going to be putting in the same amount of
tournaments and effort to try to get to number one in the world.
"I'll be playing a reduced schedule, and then focusing more on
trying to win major events and big tournaments rather than trying to
achieve certain ranking goals.
"So if I can get myself to 95 per cent of my best, I believe that's
enough to compete at the highest level. No question."
Former world number one Boris Becker believes a "100 percent
comeback" is possible for Murray, although the German says he might
be regretting leaving the surgery so long.
Murray had hoped to avoid going under the knife, saying it would not
necessarily achieve a positive outcome, but finally decided it was
his only realistic option because he had been in constant pain for
six months.
"With a good surgery and a good recovery a 100 percent comeback is
more than possible," Becker, who will be working as a Eurosport
analyst at the Open, told Reuters.
"Lleyton Hewitt had it, Tommy Haas had it, just to mention a few who
came back and played strong. I just wish that he had done it
earlier.
"Hindsight is always easier. He tried the conservative route but
came to the conclusion that the only way back was surgery. If he had
done it earlier he could have been back earlier."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |