Andy Murray ‘pain free and on track for tennis return’

Legends from the world of tennis have told Sky News that they hope Andy Murray will make a return to the sport following his hip surgery earlier in the year.

Speaking after an event at Wimbledon, marking the opening of a new roof on Court One, Jamie Murray said that he hoped to see his brother playing at SW19 again in the future.

He told Sky News: “He’s doing his rehab, I think he’s kind of on track with his recovery for where he is in terms of the timing of it right now.

“And I think his goal is just rehab, get his hip as strong as possible so that when he does get the chance to get back out on court and train properly, he’s best positioned to really find out what is going to be possible for him.

“He’s hitting a few tennis balls. He’s not like tanking it around the court or anything like that movement-wise, but as I said that is what he is building up to and I don’t know exactly when that will happen.

“He’s doing fine, pain-free and a lot happier obviously. So we’ll have to just wait and see. It’s just difficult to know what is going to be possible for him.”

Jamie also revealed that he had been playing golf with his brother, saying: “That’s just his competition now.

“He’s been starved of that for a while, so he’s been getting right into that, which is cool. Not so good for me because he is playing better than me just now!”

Also at the event were former Wimbledon champions Pat Cash and Martina Navratilova, who told Sky News that they were confident Sir Andy Murray would return to the famous London tennis club.

Cash, who won the tournament in 1987, said: “I have no doubts Andy will get to play back here.

“I think he’s feeling very confident he’ll come back. I don’t know when it’ll be, and I’m not sure if Wimbledon is a little too early to expect that, but I think we’ll see him back here playing.”

Nine-time winner Martina Navratilova said: “I don’t think it’s going to happen this year, I don’t think he’ll be quite ready.

“I just hope he takes his time so he can play pain-free, and I would not be surprised if he does really well here next year.”

The event on Court One at the iconic tennis club featured exhibition matches between tennis aces such as Venus Williams, John McEnroe and Kim Clijsters, as well as music from Paloma Faith and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Wimbledon 2019 starts on 1 July and lasts for two weeks.

(c) Sky News 2019: Andy Murray ‘pain free and on track for tennis return’