Andy Murray has revealed how a smug comment from a doctor after his hip operation acted as motivation to return to professional tennis.
Murray is set to play his first singles tournament at a grand slam since having a metal plate inserted into his joint in January 2019 when he takes to the Arthur Ashe court at the US Open on Tuesday to play Yoshihito Nishioka.
His presence in New York marks the end of a long road, which began way back in 2017 when the then world number one sustained the hip injury that derailed his career.
It was after he hobbled out of Wimbledon that a surgeon told him his professional career was over, but Murray refused to give up the ghost, even if he needed a drastic hip resurfacing operation 18 months later.
"I didn't really know until I started playing practice sets post Wimbledon and beat a few guys in practice in Washington – I was playing a few guys in practice sets there. I went to Canada and beat some good players in practice sets there. I was like, 'OK, I think I am going to be alright here'.
"It was probably not until I got back on the tour and played guys in singles that I actually really believed it. That was probably a good four or five months later.
"But certainly at the time, pre-surgery and post-surgery, no I didn't think I would be able to. But that is because I was told that I wouldn't.
"(I was) told that if you have this operation there is a good chance you are not going to be able to play high-level singles again. And I didn't have anyone else to look at. I was going into the dark a little bit."
