Jamie Delgado: 'Andy Murray considered to return in Miami before...'

The winner of three Major titles and 11 Masters 1000 trophies, Andy Murray has been the fiercest rival of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the last 15 years, standing above the competitors behind him and adding 46 ATP titles to his cabinet. Back in 2016, Murray raised his game even more to wrap up the season with nine trophies and 78 wins in total, battling for the year-end no. 1 spot with Novak Djokovic after Roland Garros and securing it following titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna, Paris and the ATP Finals, producing one of the strongest finishes in the Open era and becoming world no. 1 for the first time in November. Andy stayed at the top until Wimbledon next year but the challenging previous season certainly left a mark on him, struggling with a hip injury and missing all the action after the All England Club where he lost in the quarter-final.

Undergoing surgery in January 2018, Andy returned to the court at Queen's, playing 12 matches that year and opting for another operation in January 2019 after that epic clash against Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open that made us all think he would quit tennis soon. Determined to extend his career, Murray won the doubles title at Queen's with Feliciano Lopez for a perfect comeback in June, focusing on singles events a couple of months later and winning the first ATP title since Dubai 2017 in Antwerp in October after a thrilling victory over Stan Wawrinka, moving closer to the place in the top-100 again. At the Davis Cup Finals, Andy suffered another setback, experiencing a pelvic injury that forced him to skip the ATP Cup, the Australian Open and other events at the beginning of 2020.

With no tennis around at least until July, Andy has been working hard on staging another comeback, having enough time to recover completely and continue his tennis journey that has been one bumpy road in the last three years. His coach Jamie Delgado said to Eurosport that Andy was probably ready to make a comeback in Miami, with a coronavirus being the last thing Murray needed at the moment after so many problems he had to endure recently. Before everything had to stop, Andy also worked on clay for a couple of days and, like all the other players, his focus is on fitness at the moment, hoping to get back on the court as soon as possible. 

"Andy and I were practicing a couple of weeks ago on the hard, with the potential of playing Miami, but we were holding on over a decision after the Indian Wells event cancellation," said Delgado. "We then practiced on clay for some days, then bit by bit the world closed down. We will just have to wait and see when the restrictions lift for everyone. It's a tough time, not just on the tennis court but the whole world that has come to a halt. I haven't left the house for a couple of days, and I only leave to get food and exercise once per day. With Andy coming close to fitness, this virus was the last thing we wanted. Tennis is such an international, global sport that it may take a while to get back: players, coaches, officials, sponsors and fans are all involved. It's not like a domestic football league, where no one is needed to fly in or fly out."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3aV2Y1X