During January at the Australian Open, Murray hit rock bottom, announcing his retirement due to his ongoing battle with a worsening hip injury. The injury was causing him constant pain, and he was content to put down his racket forever in exchange for a pain-free life. Now, after surgery, he is openly discussing his surgery and his reason for return to the court once again.

Murray is back on the court after undergoing hip surgery. He stated that it was, in fact, his surgeon, Sarah Muirhead-Allwood, who urged him to get back to play. Muirhead-Allwood is known as a royal surgeon after operating on the Queen Mother’s hip many years ago. Initially, Murray was content with the fact that his career is over and was only hoping to live a pain-free life. During rehab he was, however, realizing that he is now pain-free and happy again and that is enough. He thought that he didn’t have to play tennis. It was then when Muirhead-Allwood urged him to get back.

She stated that him being able to play once again would give surgeons confidence in the kind of treatment which he received. He is hoping that when people see him play again after the operation, that it would give them hope to recover from the same kind of painful situation too. Murray is however aware of the fact that he would have to go for a complete hip replacement later on in his life and that the surgery which he had of hip resurfacing, will only last up to 20 years. This estimated time frame might be shortened though through playing tennis on his level again. Alternatively, he also has his hopes on the train of thought which indicates that an active and healthy lifestyle like that of a top athlete, might cause the bone to be stronger around the hip area and making the resurfacing last longer.

The Near Future

This past week Murray was in action for two hours and 42 minutes against Alex de Minaur. The positive from this game was that he didn’t experience any pain either during the time on the court or afterwards. Soon he will be in Beijing for the ATP 1000 event which takes place in Shanghai. Murray is stating that in the past he placed his body under a lot of stress and that he is planning on taking a more relaxed approach now. He is allowing more time to relax and rest within his schedule. He stated that he is still not ready to take on players at the level of Nadal or Federer, but he is back on the court and enjoying himself. This is something which he was always very clear about, the fact that he will retire the day when he doesn’t enjoy playing anymore. Hopefully, for fans of this 32-year-old star, this won’t be the case for a long time to come.