"At least he's got rid of that [pain] now and hopefully he can get back on court, but to what level? We don't know yet"
Tuesday 9 April 2019 17:56, UK
Jamie Murray joins The 2 Barrys Tennis Takeaway Podcast where he discusses his brother Andy's rehabilitation from hip resurfacing surgery.
The three-time Grand Slam champion had a hip resurfacing operation in January as he attempts to overcome a problem that first started to trouble him in the summer of 2017.
He shared a short clip on his Instagram story of him hitting forehands and backhands against a wall, with the caption 'It's a start'.
His brother Jamie joined hosts Barry Cowan and Barry Millns on the latest episode of their ever-popular podcast where he revealed Andy travelled to the Miami Open to speak with Bob Bryan, who also underwent the same surgery, and has returned to competitive doubles action in winning style alongside his brother, Mike, after they claimed the title at Hard Rock Stadium last month.
"It's been very difficult for him since he stopped playing at Wimbledon in 2017, I think," said Jamie. "He's done absolutely anything and everything he can to get his body right to compete. In Australia he was like 'I just can't keep going like this' because there was just too much pain everyday and he said 'I need to go and get the surgery done but after that I don't know what will happen'. There was no sort of history of players doing that.
"The thing is nobody [playing singles] has had the surgery and on top of that nobody had had the surgery and then tried to go back and play tennis again. He didn't really have anything to go on to know what was possible form the surgery but he doing his rehab and he getting more active as the video showed.
"He saw Bob Bryan in Miami last week having had the same surgery and he's 41-year-old now, so I'm sure that gives him enough confidence to know he can get back out on court and play. Obviously, doubles is a lot different. You're getting out and running side-to-side on a singles court and movement plays a huge part in his game."
I guess when you've played at the top for so long and you've only every been about winning Grand Slams and Masters Series, I guess that's the level that you want to come back to.
Jamie revealed the most important thing was for his brother to stop feeling the day-to-day pain in his hip, but now that he has started the slow process of hitting balls again, will we ever get to see him competing at the highest level again?
"I think he's probably cautiously optimistic now," he admitted. "He obviously didn't know what was going to be possible so first and foremost I think he's just happy not to have the pain everyday because that was so debilitating, so depressing each day to wake up and go through that pain all the time. At least he's got rid of that now and hopefully he can get back on court, but to what level? We don't know yet."
Tennis broadcasters Barry Cowan and Barry Millns interview major figures in the sport, plus other high profile tennis fans! Click on the link below to listen to the latest episode.
Barry Mills posed the question what would Andy settle for if he ever made a return to the game having already achieved so much in a trophy-laden career.
"I guess when you've played at the top for so long and you've only every been about winning Grand Slams and Masters Series, I guess that's the level that you want to come back to," Jamie, 33, said.
"If you told him that you can come back and you can play to 40 in the world, I don't think that's inspiring for him when you're used to playing semi-finals, finals, and all these big matches, but again, I don't know how much he misses it. I don't know how much he misses the competition and being back on court competing. I would imagine for him, having had so many incredible moments on a tennis court, if you don't feel like you can achieve them again then it would be difficult to stay quite motivated."
Jamie also said it would be "cool" if Andy were to play more doubles if singles proves too difficult after surgery and he admitted they have discussed playing at Wimbledon together in the future. "We will have to see," he added.
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