Andy Murray Reveals the Biggest Motivation for his Comeback from Hip Surgery

Many tennis players and fans have praised the efforts and perseverance of former World No. 1 Andy Murray to come back to the tennis circuit after his second hip surgery. The 33 year old underwent a hip resurfacing operation last year and will play in the singles draw at a Grand Slam event for the first time since the Australian Open in January 2019. Now, Murray has revealed how a doctor's comment motivated him in his comeback.

Murray says doc who said he wouldn't play pro tennis again motivated comeback

According to Sky Sports, Murray says a doctor/ surgeon told him after Wimbledon in 2017 that even if he underwent a second surgery, he would not be able to play at a professional level again. "It was weird timing, I actually bumped into him the morning after I had my hip resurfacing when I took my first steps on the new hip with the crutches. He walked past me in the hallway and he smiled at me and said to my wife, 'I told him he was going to have to do this'. It just really got me. I was not happy. I would say that was the thing that gave me the biggest motivation because at that moment I had obviously been going through a difficult time, had the operation and I felt that there was a bit of smugness to what he told me. That was kind of enough for me. And I was actually going to send him a bottle of wine to say thanks for the motivation once I had got back on the court competing again but I haven't brought myself to do that yet."

The former World No. 1 says he did not believe he would be able to compete at this level once again but says it was because he was told he would not be able to. "[I was] told that if you have this operation there is a good chance you are not going to be able to play high-level singles again. And I didn't have anyone else to look at. I was going into the dark a little bit."

Murray has surely proven his critics and that doctor wrong. He won the ATP title in Antwerp in October last year, although a pelvic injury during the Davis Cup event in November kept him on the sidelines during the first few months of the 2020 season.

Andy Murray will meet Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.

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