Andy Murray’s hopes of returning to the ATP Tour at the Miami Open aren’t exactly disappointed, but they seem pending. Murray has to deal with a side effect of a recent hip reconstruction and may involve a new surgery.
“I haven’t had much clarity as to what the problem actually is, because it’s hard to say,” Murray told the BBC, referring to the discomfort he was subjected to during his return from a bruised pelvic bone. The injury has knocked him out since he won his first and only Davis Cup match in Madrid in November. If he opts for surgery, he could keep him out of Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.
Murray, now 32 and a defender of the Olympic gold medal for the upcoming Tokyo games, had targeted the upcoming Miami Open (which begins March 25) as his return event. The former No. 1 in the world and the two-time Wimbledon champion lost the Australian Open due to the pelvic injury. He has only won one tournament since 2017, the Antwerp Open last October. His ranking fell to n. 130.
The new complication in the career of the famous complicated English player is a “heterotopic ossification” or an unexpected bone growth in the soft tissues around the new metallic side implanted in early 2019. Murray returned to the tour in June, playing twice as much and did his singles debut later in the summer at the Cincinnati Masters.
He made a 10-4 record in singles before retiring from the Davis Cup.
The impact bone growth will have on Murray’s future of tennis is unclear. If Murray opts for surgery at this stage, the bone may grow back. If he tries to manage the situation for a few months but the bone keeps growing and increase his discomfort, he may be forced to undergo surgery.
Murray said of his prospects, “It’s only if that [the new bone growth] it settles with time and the body gets used to it and if you can manage it while you play. “
Murray’s main worry, from a career point of view, is strategic. If he opts to do nothing other than manage the discomfort he experiences, he may be incapacitated a few months down the road and request surgery.
Murray has a special affinity for Miami, where he keeps a house and used it as a base for training out of competition. He is clearly frustrated by this unexpected and delicate turn of events.
