Former Tennis World Number One Uses Medical Diagnosis As Motivation For Return

The return of Andy Murray to the professional tour is one of the more inspiring stories in this season’s tennis. The former world number one player has bounced back from retirement to give his singles career a revitalized shot and attributes his motivation to the doctor who didn’t see much left in his career.

Back in 2019, Murray was forced to leave the sport that he loved with the severity of his injuries hindering him to play.

"There is one person in particular that helped me," Murray said, by way of Sky Sports.

Throughout his career, Murray has been known as a defensive specialist who was consistent overall on the court. It was unfortunate that he battled several injuries whenever he would step foot to compete.

"It was the doctor/surgeon who told me after Wimbledon in 2017 that I didn't have long left and you could have surgery - resurfacing or hip replacement - but you won't play professional sport again,” Murray continued.

During the peak of his playing days, he was the fourth member of tennis’ top four players. The trio that comprises of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were once known as Tennis’ big four with Murray as the final piece.

"It was weird timing, I actually bumped into him the morning after I had my hip resurfacing when I took my first steps on the new hip with the crutches,” Murray recalled.

"He walked past me in the hallway and he smiled at me and said to my wife, 'I told him he was going to have to do this',” Murray continued.

With his smooth groundstrokes, mental toughness and overall steadiness as a player, Murray was able to haul three Gran Slam titles before injuries took over his game.

"It just really got me. I was not happy. I would say that was the thing that gave me the biggest motivation because at that moment I had obviously been going through a difficult time, had the operation and I felt that there was a bit of smugness to what he told me,” Murray added.

This year, Murray is part of the US Open draw and is looking to make a mark even after two hip surgeries in the past two years.

"That was kind of enough for me. And I was actually going to send him a bottle of wine to say thanks for the motivation once I had got back on the court competing again but I haven't brought myself to do that yet," Murray concluded.

It will be interesting to see how far Murray will reach in the US Open and if he’s able to display the same fire he’s had during his days on top of the tennis world.