Martina Navratilova has said that Andy Murray must be 100% fit if he wants to be back into the world’s top 10 players.
After returning to singles in Cincinnati, the Brit has only won two matches from the three tournaments he has managed to play.
Both of those wins came at the Mallorca Challenger where he eventually fell to world number 204 Matteo Viola in a last set tiebreak.
Now Murray prepares to head to the Asian swing in a bid to try and play his first grand slam for a year at next year’s Australian Open, the same place where the tennis world thought they had said goodbye to him.
One of the goals for the former world number one will be to return to the world’s top 10 players in the world once he is match-fit.
However 18-time grand slam singles champion Martina Navratilova has remained cautious on Murray’s chances of reaching the top 10 in the world, “If he can put full pressure and full weight on his body and move like he used to, without compromising himself, if he can play pain free, then absolutely,” Navratilova told the BBC.
“But if it starts hurting you cannot compete with guys at his level. He’s got a lot of weight around, he’s a big guy, so the hips and joints need to be working 100%. These days you cannot be 90%.
“The hands don’t go away, the brain doesn’t go away, so if the hips are there, the rest of the game will be there as well.”
Although Murray would love to reach the top 10 again, it is one step at a time for the Brit as his first goal will be to return to the top 100.
The next chance for the former Wimbledon champion to assess his fitness will be the Zhuhai Open, which starts on the 23rd of September.