‘My physio has always been more positive about playing Grand Slams than playing a tournament when you play five days in a row’: Andy Murray believes his best chance at success will come in Majors after hip surgery
- Andy Murray has had a difficult 2019 that begun with hip resurfacing surgery
- He has regained form and fitness – culminating in October’s European Open win
- Murray is part of the Great Britain team for the revamped Davis Cup this month
Andy Murray believes that his newly-refurbished body may be more suited to contesting the Grand Slams than regular tour events when he resumes playing in the Majors next year.
The 32-year-old Scot is preparing for next week’s Davis Cup finals with GB team-mates, having taken a break after his dramatic tournament victory at Antwerp’s European Open three weeks ago.
Reporting a clean bill of health after his exertions there, Murray reckons the format of the biggest tournaments might work in his favour when he returns to playing best-of-five sets at the Australian Open in January.
Andy Murray believes his body is better withstanding Grand Slams than normal tournaments
He underwent a hip resurfacing operation in January but is now back playing at a high level
‘My physio has always been more positive about me playing Grand Slams than playing a tournament when you play five days in a row,’ said Murray at the launch of his new clothing line with sponsors Castore.
‘He loves the fact that there’s a day off to rest and actually recover and your body gets a chance to rest up before the next match. Sometimes in Antwerp where you’re playing back-to-back days there was no chance to do that. I guess I’ll see how it responds when I’m over there (Australia).
‘I’m not worried from the hip’s perspective as I’ve had zero issues with it so far so I don’t anticipate that playing an extra 45 minutes or an hour (playing in a Grand Slam) will be bad for my hip. How the rest of my body how that responds, I’ll see when I’m out there.
‘I think my body showed I’m going to be able to play at a high level. That’s where I need to be smart with my scheduling and the amount of tournaments that I play.’
Murray declared that his main goal 12 months from now would be to look back on having put in a year of solid competition.
The 32-year-old Scot is refreshed having won Antwerp’s European Open three weeks ago
‘I would want to be healthy, you realise what really is important. Being healthy allows me to do that. It’s nice to be able to win big competitions and have a high ranking and stuff.
‘That’s great but actually the reason why I’m playing is because I love it and I need to remember that, so if I’m 30 in the world or 70 in the world and I’m still enjoying it and I feel competitive then that would be success for me.’
Murray will fly out to Madrid with the British team on Wednesday to prepare for the inaugural Davis Cup finals week, which will see 18 nations compete altogether. He is optimistic that GB – who also feature Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans, Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski – can emerge into the quarter-finals from their group, which will see them play Kazakhstan and Holland.
He is aware that it may feel different without the feverish atmospheres generated by the old home and away ties, which are now only in the qualifying section.
Murray, pictured in October, is gearing up for the revamped Davis Cup with Great Britain
‘I’m excited and intrigued to see what it’ll be like with the new format. I’m going to miss the atmosphere because I don’t think the atmosphere’s going to be the same as some of the home ties or the away ties that I played. I will look back on them at the end of my career.
‘I’m going to miss that but I love being around the team and I hope the atmosphere is brilliant.
‘From what I hear we’ve sold a lot of tickets (for the GB matches) and will have a decent fanbase out there. But how does that work if we get through to the quarter-finals, who has tickets for that, how many can stay? We’ll see but it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.’
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