One of the most significant voices in the tennis world is confident that both Andy Murray and Serena Williams will be fit to return to the Australian Open in January.
The words of Craig Tiley, the event’s Tournament Director, carry some weight because he has a close relationship with both players.
He has even struck a partnership with Murray on behalf of Tennis Australia to promote tournaments in the country, which sees the 30 year-old Scot scheduled to make his fully competitive comeback at the Brisbane International in early January.
Andy Murray ended his season in September after an ongoing hip injury was problematic
Murray was beaten by Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon quarter-final and hasn’t played since
But Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley believes Murray will feature in January
Tiley, speaking yesterday, struck an optimistic note that all the players currently out at present will be in Melbourne for what could be a blockbuster start to next season.
Given how secretive Murray is being about the progress, or otherwise, of his attempts to recover from a hip injury it constitutes a rare statement of what his intentions are.
‘On the men’s side, there has been a lot of concern and conjecture around Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori,’ said Tiley.
Tiley (right) was speaking at the launch of the 2018 Grand Slam event on Monday
‘I can tell you that in talking to Andy, he has been training and he is preparing for having a great year in 2018. How much would this year have hurt him, to watch over the entire year Roger and Rafa share four grand slam titles – he would not have liked that.
‘As competitive as Andy is, we know he’s back and he’ll want to improve his current ranking of number three in the world and getting back to number one.’
Murray is reportedly doing rehab work with his team but has offered no proper updates since his late withdrawal from the US Open in late August. The ATP confirmed today that he is yet to formally pull out of next month’s Paris Masters at Bercy.
He is definitely planning to play a charity exhibition match against Roger Federer in Glasgow on November 7. Assuming he misses Paris these would be the first semi-serious balls he has hit since the Wimbledon quarter final in July.
In Murray’s absence Roger Federer (left) and Rafael Nadal (right) have shared the spoils
With four Grand Slams between them this season, they have returned to the top of world tennis
Equally fascinating is the potential return of Williams, who gave birth to a baby girl on September 1. She has set the Australian Open as her targeted return date and is already preparing for that.
‘She wants to come back in 2018 and defend her title,’ said Tiley. ‘ Obviously, at training now, there is several months to go and it will be up to her as far as where she is with her fitness.’
That chimes noises emanating from the Williams camp, which indicate that Serena – who has begun training near her Florida home – is intent on coming back as quick as possible at a time when yet another women’s player, Simona Halep, has ascended to number one without winning a Grand Slam.
Tiley also claimed Serena Williams could return to defend her title despite recently giving birth
However, she is also aware of the challenges she faces in coming back so soon, with the two comparable cases of ex number ones Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka representative of how ambitious she is being.
Clijsters had her first child aged 24 in February 2008 and did not return to fully competitive action for eighteen months, which eventually saw her win three more Grand Slams. The Belgian has talked of how she needed to adjust her movement and training in this later part of her career, partly to protect the stomach and hip areas of her body.
Kim Clijsters (right) won three Grand Slam titles after having a baby in February 2008
Azarenka, then 27, gave birth before Christmas last year and was back in time for Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round while clearly not being back to her best.
She has not played since, although it has emerged that even by the time of SW19 her relationship with the father of her child, Billy McKeague, was under severe strain.
They are now locked in a custody battle for their child that was expected to be resolved by this month. However, she was due to enter this week’s WTA event in Linz and pulled out.
Both players are considerably younger than 36 year-old Williams, so being ready to compete in Australia looks a tall order, although she is someone you underestimate at your peril.