Andy Murray officially back after career-saving surgery as he targets US Open singles following Queen’s doubles title
HIP, hip hooray — Andy Murray is officially back.
And one of the greatest comebacks in British sport could become even more epic, with Murray now open to a potential singles return at the US Open.
Five months ago, the Brit, 32, broke down in tears at the Australian Open when he revealed the full extent of the daily hip pain he was suffering.
Sporting obituaries were duly written and tributes poured in for one of the world’s leading sportsmen.
Everybody, including Murray, feared that was it.
It was thought he was finished at the elite end of a sport he had been involved in since being a young boy growing up in Scotland.
But, thanks to career-saving hip-resurfacing surgery in January, Murray will not have to hang up the racket so soon after all, as he pocketed a first title since 2017.
And, as he showed in this epic doubles victory at the Fever-Tree Championships, he has lost none of the fire, competitiveness or sheer bloody-mindedness that once propelled him to world No1.
A fairytale week, aided by the marathon effort of Spanish partner Feliciano Lopez, ended with Murray lifting the Queen’s trophy above his heads thanks to a pulsating 7-6 5-7 10-5 victory over Brit Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram.
Admittedly, he will have to get his serving back to its top level and work on his positioning for doubles action — but in reality there have been few negatives to discuss all week.
If I keep progressing, I’d like to try to play singles… close to US Open time.
Murray on his 2019 goals
Murray, a five-time singles winner here, said: “This is very different for me and it’s more special than a lot of the singles tournaments I’ve won for a lot of different reasons.
“I’ve just won the doubles with Feli with a metal hip. It’s mental! It’s a cool thing given where I was only two months ago. I wasn’t thinking about this.
“I was just really happy just to be pain-free and enjoying life, doing normal things. So it’s really special.”
Of course, everybody wants to know when he will back for singles combat — and once more take on the big beasts of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer.
And Murray quickly raised the tantalising prospect of a possible return this autumn, saying: “If I keep progressing, I’d like to try to play singles.
“I have a couple of options. One, after Wimbledon, is 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 post-Wimbledon of maybe, let’s say, a month or six weeks to get myself ready for singles and then try and play close to US Open time.
MURR-ACULOUS
“I would probably need four weeks of practise and preparation and then potentially play Cincinnati and US Open schedule.”
Veteran Lopez, 37, only had 30 minutes’ rest before heading out with Murray following his 2hr 49min, 6-2 6-7 7-6 singles final win over Gilles Simon.
It was no surprise Lopez — the oldest champion at Queen’s in the Open Era — repeatedly refused to sit down during the doubles changeovers for fear of not getting up again.
Early on, Murray’s service game was put under pressure and he was broken in the first set to hand Ram and Salisbury an advantage.
Thankfully for Muzza, Salisbury — who grew up in nearby Putney — then shanked a half-volley long on set point.
In the tie-break, the experience and guile of Murray and Lopez proved pivotal as they fought back from 5-1 down.
They even saved a set point before taking an entertaining first set when Ram missed an otherwise routine volley.
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Murray and Lopez wasted three break points in the seventh game of the second set and were kicking themselves in frustration when the match went to a Champions tie-break.
Yet Lopez somehow produced when it mattered the most, hitting five winners in a row, before a wide return sealed Murray’s golden return.
Lopez, who spent a total of 15 hours and 26 minutes on court this week, said: “I don’t know how I was able to do it.
“The main important thing is Andy is pain-free. I hope he will play singles soon.”