Former World No. 1 Mats Wilander has backed three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray to make a successful comeback from hip injury.
Murray, who has been bothered by a hip injury since last year’s French Open pulled out of the Australian Open on Thursday. Releasing an emotional statement after his decision to withdraw from the event in Melbourne, Murray revealed that the pain in his hip had become unbearable, affecting his movement on the court to an extent that he wasn’t able to chase balls like he used to in the past.
However, seven-time Major winner Wilander is hopeful of the Briton’s recovery as long as Murray is willing to put his mind into it. According to Wilander Murray can also seek inspiration from his past experiences, when he made a stunning comeback after back surgery.
Murray claimed his second Wimbledon crown, became the first men’s player to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals after his victory in Rio and went on to secure the No. 1 rank in the official ATP rankings – all in 2016. All this happened after Murray went under the knife in 2014 and then slowly but steadily began his climb back in 2015.
“Of course he can (come back),” Wilander told news agency Reuters.
“Have the surgery and see how things go. He’s a hard enough worker and so talented that I don’t think it’s a problem for him to come back as long as his mind wants him to come back.”
“That’s the thing you never really know when you have a surgery and take time off.”
“With Murray I think he draw on past experiences and look at how after he had his back surgery he came back and was a better player and got to number one in the world,” he said.
“If he can get himself 100 percent fit he can come back with no pressure because he already has three slams and it won’t be about rankings then, just getting back to a level where he can challenge for big titles.”
