Why the Drama Andy Murray?

The Briton, Andy Murray made a despairing announcement in Melbourne which informed about his impending retirement from professional tennis due to his prolonged hip injury. Within 72 hours after making the heart-wrenching statement, Murray played his first round match of the 2019 Australian Open. The crowd at the Hisense Arena of the Melbourne Park came prepared to bid adieu to the Scot and presented the valedictory montages. As he limped his way out from the opening day of the premier Slam of the year, in his on-court interview the moist-eyed man addressed to the crowd, “Maybe I’ll see you again . . . I’ll need to have a big operation, which there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to come back from anyway, but I’ll give it my best shot”.

It’s quite evident from his words that the two-time Olympic gold medalist has not thoroughly decided upon his proclamation which was made viral last Friday. He might be facing a dreadful injury for the moment, but a sportsman should be optimistic enough to face and fix it. After all, its all part of the game. Gaining solace, receiving sympathy and gratitude-filled messages from all over the globe and seeking attention would neither win major titles nor provide fixation to the injury.

The British have bilateral regard for the three-time Grand Slam, Murray. The Scottish edition of Daily Mail portrays Andy Murray in the headline stating, ‘Game, set and matchless’ on their front-page. On the other hand, some columnists pen songs of praises on his achievements and the editors also take note of his feminist activities on tour.  Billie Jean King, Serena Williams and the other WTA women adored Murray for him being supportive over the issue of inequality on the basis of gender which prevailed in the sport regarding the remuneration and other exposures. However, the feminist, Murray is well aware of male and female standards of the sport.

Murray has instigated the mourning for the forthcoming demise of his professional tennis, for the time being, the declaration might be difficult to assimilate, but in reality, it might be done out of heedlessness. During the 2012 Roland Garros tournament, Murray won 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 over Jarkko Nieminen in the second round. The match was accompanied with an ATP physio visiting as Murray needed a treatment. Right after his heroic comeback, Virginia Wade called him “a drama queen”. Wade is former British Grand Slam champion and she has known Murray since his childhood.

The Scotsman is in an uncertain position for the moment and is dealing with a bizarre situation. He is contemplating upon continuing with physiotherapy and try and play Wimbledon, whether to put an end to his tennis career or get himself operated and continue to shine on the ATP tour. Additionally, Murray has had a word with the doctor, Edwin Su, of the world-renowned Hospital For Special Surgery in New York.

The American champion on the doubles ATP court, Bob Bryan is back on the professional circuit after five months since he underwent a metal implant in his hip as he was injured before. The surgeon who helped Bob could help out Murray to a great extent since he is pensively considering to undergo hip surgery.

“Dr Su has put a guy back in Major League Baseball, an NBA guy, put a guy back in NHL. He’s never had a guy back in singles in tennis, but he’s the only guy that will give you a chance to come back to professional sports,” the 23-times Grand Slam doubles champion, Bob Bryan shared. “I think Andy could do it. I don’t underestimate him. You look at the great workers in history: [Ivan] Lendl, [Jim] Courier, [Andy] Roddick. This guy is maybe even a step up from those guys. No one’s done more research about hips, doctors. He already knew my doctor, all the cases. The guy is knowledgable beyond belief on the hip, on the surgery. “Andy has spoken to Dr Su. I don’t know who Andy is going to choose if he goes down this route, but I would recommend him. He’s a tennis fan – he knows it inside and out”.

Bryan also talked about his experience during and after his surgery. He said, “the operation is called hip resurfacing, with an artificial implant. It’s a full replacement, has the bar that goes all the way down the femur. This is a little more – a sports, high-performance, smaller metal implant. I was on crutches a couple days after the operation, on 2 August. I was at the US Open three weeks after surgery with a cane. At the end of September, I was hitting some light balls. We started our training December 5, hitting some balls pretty hard, playing some sets.”

Bryan also shared his views on the singles circuit, he understands how difficult it is to play singlehandedly and how different it is from the doubles format of tennis. A player on the singles court cannot afford to be a step slower. He feels a great amount of effort is invested in the court for four long hours.

The American notified about how he is feeling right now and finally, he concluded by suggesting his best opinion to the British man, Murray and consequently gave him s solution to continue working as a professional tennis player. The American said, “I’m just telling him, I feel great, quality of life is great, practices are going well. Maybe I’m not 100% yet, but I’m only five months in. The doctors said: ‘This is more of like seven or eight months until you feel perfect.’ Until I feel that, I can’t give you the guarantee, but I think he’s to the point where this is probably his last option.”