Murray: I’m optimistic about future

Andy Murray says he will keep ‘pushing’ on his comeback to tennis

Andy Murray says the manner of his comeback victory in the men’s doubles at the Fever-Tree Championships after five months away has left him “optimistic” about his future in tennis.

The former world No 1 produced moments of vintage shot-making, which has been a pivotal attribute during his career, and most importantly showed no discomfort during his first competitive encounter since undergoing a hip resurfacing operation 143 days ago, following the Australian Open in January.

Murray, a five-time singles champion at Queen’s, and his partner Feliciano Lopez, who won the singles title in 2017, defeated top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in straight sets.

I have zero discomfort in my hip, like, nothing. And if I had done this last year, you know, I’d be here aching, throbbing, and feel bad the next day.

Andy Murray

“I learnt quite a bit tonight. I sort of expected to be the worst player on the court, which was probably the case in the first set,” Murray, who earlier this week described the second hip operation he underwent as “life-changing”, said.

“But then I think I started to play better in the second and started to serve a bit better, see the returns a little bit better and things.

“I have zero discomfort in my hip, like, nothing. And if I had done this last year, you know, I’d be here aching, throbbing, and feel bad the next day.

“So I’ll just keep pushing and see how it goes. But I feel optimistic about the future. I don’t know how long it will take to get to that level, but, you know, hopefully not too long.”

Murray and Feliciano Lopez thrilled the crowd at Queen’s Club

Murray also made a comeback after an extended lay-off, due to the chronic hip injury, at Queen’s Club where he lost to Nick Kyrgios in the first round last year, but the former British No 1 admitted Thursday’s encounter was incomparable in terms of just how well he felt on court.

He added: “I was saying that this felt different to last year, because last year when I came in and played, I mean, my hip felt very average. I was still pretty uncomfortable and I had done a lot of training. Things weren’t really getting better.

Murray will also play doubles at Eastbourne and Wimbledon

“Whereas now I feel like although I’m not, you know, at my best kind of physically, I feel like I’m always making improvements and I have no pain.

“So it felt different in that respect. I feel like I’m going to continue to progress. It was fun and enjoyable. Last year when I came on the court, I was quite emotional and stuff, because I hadn’t played for a long time but didn’t get loads of enjoyment out of the match. I was more worried about my hip than anything else.”

Murray has already signed up to play at Eastbourne in the men’s doubles alongside Brazilian Marcelo Melo, ranked world No 4, and confirmed he would partner Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert at Wimbledon.

Murray and Lopez will continue their Queen’s campaign against either Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur or British pair Dan Evans and Ken Skupski in the second round on Friday.