June 9, 2017 – Murray puts shaky form going into the French Open behind him to reach the semi-finals before losing to Swiss ace Stan Wawrinka but begins to feel the flare-up of a long-standing hip issue that had previously been under control
June 27, 2017 – Murray does not mention his hip problem after losing his first match at Queen’s to Jordan Thompson but is forced to publicly acknowledge it when he pulls out of a scheduled exhibition match at the Hurlingham Club, a move cited as precautionary
July 2, 2017 – After pulling out of a second Hurlingham match, Murray calms fears he may be forced to miss Wimbledon by confirming on the eve of the tournament that he will play
July 12, 2017 – Walking with a noticeable limp, Murray battles his way into the quarter-finals but his title defence ends with a five-set loss to Sam Querrey. Afterwards, Murray insists he does not expect to be away from the tour for too long
August 26, 2017 – After pulling out of two Masters events and losing his world No 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal, Murray travels to New York intending to return at the US Open. But two days before the tournament he announces at a press conference that he is pulling out, saying his hip is too sore to give him a chance of winning the tournament
September 6, 2017 – Murray heads home for further consultations with a number of hip specialists then announces he is likely to miss the rest of the year but is hoping to avoid surgery
January 2, 2018 – Murray schedules the Brisbane International for his second attempt at a comeback only to pull out on the eve of his first match. In a heartfelt post on Instagram accompanied by a childhood photo, Murray says: ‘I choose this pic as the little kid inside me just wants to play tennis and compete. I genuinely miss it so much and I would give anything to be back out there.’
January 8, 2018 – Murray announces he has undergone hip surgery in Melbourne. In an upbeat assessment, he says surgeon John O’Donnell is very happy and that he is targeting a return for the grass-court season
March 28, 2018 – Murray posts his first picture on social media after returning to on-court training at Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy in Nice
May 8, 2018 – After Murray does not enter a Challenger tournament in Glasgow that had been earmarked for his return, it emerges he has suffered a setback in his recovery and has been forced to take more time away from the court
June 5, 2018 – Murray says he is ‘getting closer’ to a return but pulls out of his scheduled first grass event of the season at the Libema Open in Holland
June 16, 2018 – After two weeks back on court, Murray announces just before the draw that he will make his comeback at the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club
June 19, 2018 – A lengthy 342 days since his last competitive outing, Murray finally makes it back on court in the Fever-Tree Championships against Nick Kyrgios. He puts up a good fight but eventually loses his first-round match 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) 7-5.
June 25, 2018 – Murray beats Wawrinka at Eastbourne but is then comfortably dispatched in the round of 16 by British No 1 Kyle Edmund as he continues to feel his way back into games
July 30, 2018 – Murray fans grow in confidence at the Scot’s increased participation and a run to the quarter-finals – where he is beaten due to a walkover for Alex de Minaur – suggests he is slowly on the rise again
August 13, 2018 – A first round exit to Lucas Pouille shows that Murray is struggling to recapture the form that saw him go on to win Wimbledon twice as his hip issues see him hold back in three-set match
August 30, 2018 – In only his fifth tournament back since returning from hip surgery, Murray falters in four sets against Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the US Open second round as the sweltering conditions did little to help his cause. His noticeable limp between points became more and more obvious as the points rolled on
September 28, 2018 – A quarter-final defeat in Shenzen to Verdasco sees Murray call time on the 2018 season as he takes time away to get himself in the best possible condition for the 2019 Australian Open
December 27, 2018 – Despite some time away since losing to Verdasco in Asia, Murray admits the pain is still prominent as he prepares to play in the Brisbane International, a warm-up tournament for the Australian Open. In his last-16 tie against Russian star Daniil Medvedev, Murray is comfortably beaten 7-5, 6-2 as fears grow over the condition of his hip
January 10, 2019 – Leaves Australian Open press conference in tears and suggests his time in Melbourne could be his last Grand Slam tournament due to the pain being too much to continue playing through