[waverlybear]

Andy has officially withdrawn from the Australian Open.

We all hoped we were wrong, but after Andy’s post earlier this week this decision seemed inevitable.   At least he will be home getting the support he needs from his family and friends and hopefully he’ll get the right advice (for his future in or out of tennis) on what to do next.

[The Gnome]

I haven't been interested in watching tennis since Wimbledon last year. Knowing Andy is out injured just makes watching tennis too depressing. I can't help but look back to the end of 2016 when he had that training block only a few weeks after his exhausting end of season. He should have had a longer rest before coming back, and I feel Lendl pushed him too hard to keep momentum going. He started to look out of sorts as early as the Australian open, and it's been downhill ever since.

Everything is now pointing towards surgery. If you spend 6 months off the tour and the problem still persists, then you know it's serious and it's clear to everybody that even more rest and rehabilitation isn't going to fix his hip problem. I fully understand his reluctance in going under the knife, the last 6 months of rehab proved that but it's obvious to me that surgery is now the only option left.

The question now of course is what shape will he be in when he returns? I saw Barry 5 sets on Sky sports suggest surgery won't mean the end of his career, it's now a matter of how competitive he would be on his return. I think we all know Andy doesn't want to retire from the game just yet and if anybody can recover from such an operation, then it's him. His drive and ambition sets him apart from most players, but realistically, we would be looking at not seeing him play tennis for another year.

By then he would have been out of the game for 18 months, and will be in a Del Potro situation with wild cards and at least 6 months of tennis before he finds his rhythm again. So the best scenario for me would be Andy playing tennis again at a decent level by the time he hits 32 years of age.

I would like to think that he could still be competing for slams again at that age, but my gut instinct says the game will have passed him by and the most we can hope for is a Hewitt type end to his career. Very depressing start to the year, I hope Andy can prove us all wrong and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for him.

[matchpoint]

 

I would like to think that he could still be competing for slams again at that age, but my gut instinct says the game will have passed him by and the most we can hope for is a Hewitt type end to his career. Very depressing start to the year, I hope Andy can prove us all wrong and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for him.

Good post Gnome. It is all just so gutting.
My heart goes out to Andy himself - it seems so cruel that from the point he reached the pinnacle - the number one in his sport - all has been downhill since.

I have only re-quoted your last paragraph because the most I am hoping for is that after surgery, time out, and whatever else it takes, maybe Andy could team up with Jamie and compete in the doubles. Don't know if it would be an option at all - but It surely would be less stressful physically  - and right now it is the only consolation I can think of.

[Bevc]

I haven't been interested in watching tennis since Wimbledon last year. Knowing Andy is out injured just makes watching tennis too depressing. I can't help but look back to the end of 2016 when he had that training block only a few weeks after his exhausting end of season. He should have had a longer rest before coming back, and I feel Lendl pushed him too hard to keep momentum going. He started to look out of sorts as early as the Australian open, and it's been downhill ever since.

Everything is now pointing towards surgery. If you spend 6 months off the tour and the problem still persists, then you know it's serious and it's clear to everybody that even more rest and rehabilitation isn't going to fix his hip problem. I fully understand his reluctance in going under the knife, the last 6 months of rehab proved that but it's obvious to me that surgery is now the only option left.

The question now of course is what shape will he be in when he returns? I saw Barry 5 sets on Sky sports suggest surgery won't mean the end of his career, it's now a matter of how competitive he would be on his return. I think we all know Andy doesn't want to retire from the game just yet and if anybody can recover from such an operation, then it's him. His drive and ambition sets him apart from most players, but realistically, we would be looking at not seeing him play tennis for another year.

By then he would have been out of the game for 18 months, and will be in a Del Potro situation with wild cards and at least 6 months of tennis before he finds his rhythm again. So the best scenario for me would be Andy playing tennis again at a decent level by the time he hits 32 years of age.

I would like to think that he could still be competing for slams again at that age, but my gut instinct says the game will have passed him by and the most we can hope for is a Hewitt type end to his career. Very depressing start to the year, I hope Andy can prove us all wrong and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for him.

Pretty much how I've been feeling, though on a positive note, my sleep patterns are much improved!

We shall see if the love of tennis returns in a few weeks time when I land in Melbourne for 4 days of non-stop tennis! Booked last September, so was always hoping the news was positive for Andy.

I'm hoping schedulers will favour Fed for night matches only and on RLA or they may kill my love of tennis altogether if he's scheduled on 'my' days.

[amongsttheleaves]

Bit more positive on the surgery front, still speculation though as no one knows for certain what the actual injury is aside from those close to Andy and those he's consulted with about the hip.

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/tennis/andy-murray/andy-murray-could-return-to-top-after-surgery-says-specialist-1-4654000/

Edit: apologies, I see Alt already posted a version of this.

[blueberryhill]

Nobody knows a thing, tho do they? It's a bit dodgy for journos/medics to diagnose from a distance.

[moonglow]

Pretty much how I've been feeling, though on a positive note, my sleep patterns are much improved!

We shall see if the love of tennis returns in a few weeks time when I land in Melbourne for 4 days of non-stop tennis! Booked last September, so was always hoping the news was positive for Andy.

I'm hoping schedulers will favour Fed for night matches only and on RLA or they may kill my love of tennis altogether if he's scheduled on 'my' days.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in Melbourne   It must be so wonderful to actually go there - I'm very sorry you won't see Andy this time (: 
I think Fed will only play night matches  and definitely on RLA so you definitely should be safe - from all things Fed lol
It's good that you sleep a bit better these days, I wish I could say the same ..
Anyway have a lovely time and looking forward to your news from the AO whenever you have time