By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Andy Murray has undergone a second hip surgery to have a metal implant installed in his hip.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Andy Murray has undergone a second hip surgery to have a metal implant installed in his hip.
The three-time Grand Slam champion announced he underwent surgery in London yesterday, a year after Murray's first hip surgery in Melbourne.
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"I underwent a hip resurfacing surgery in London yesterday morning," Murray posed on Instagram. "Feeling a bit battered and bruised just now, but hopefully, that will be the end of my hip pain.
"I now have a metal hip as you can see in the second photo."
It's too soon to know if the surgery will help the 31-year-old Scot achieve his dream of retiring at Wimbledon.
The former world No. 1 made a valiant and emotional farewell falling to Roberto Bautista Agut in a gripping five-set thriller in the Australian Open first round on January 14th.
Afterward, Murray admitted he's in pain and said while he hopes to play Wimbledon as his farewell tournament, he's not sure if his body will allow him to last that long.
The candor and class Murray showed throughout his career was on display in his announcement to the media at the Australian Open.
"I'm not feeling good, I've been struggling for a long time," Murray said. "I've been in a lot of pain for about 20 months now. I've pretty much done everything I could to try and get my hip feeling better and it hasn't helped loads.
"I'm in a better place than I was six months ago but I'm still in a lot of pain. I can still play to a level, but not a level I have played at."
Simply put, the 31-year-old Scott concedes he can't perform to the level he's accustomed and has no plans to stick around as a shadow of his former self.
The father of two is hoping his latest surgery will alleviate the pain and help him return to regular activity, pain free.
After undergoing his initial hip surgery in Melbourne last January, Murray said he’d have to carefully manage his hip for the rest of his career, and that he could no longer play frivolously, overtaxing his body in order to chase a higher ranking.
"I’ll be playing a reduced schedule, and then focusing more on trying to win major events and big tournaments rather than trying to achieve certain ranking goals," Murray said last January.
Now the two-time Wimbledon winner's goal is simple: Regain his health enough to go out on the grass of SW19.
"Maybe I’ll see you again. I’ll do everything possibly to try," Murray said after his Australian Open exit. "If I want to go again, I’ll need to have a big operation where there are no guarantees I will be able to come back from. I will give it my best shot.
"I have basically two options. One is to take the next four-and-a-half months off and come back for Wimbledon. But if I have an operation like that, there are no guarantees I can come back from that."
Murray talked to a test-case before the surgery: Grand Slam doubles champion Bob Bryan.
Five months after getting a metal hip implant, Bob Bryan was back playing the Australian Open this month—and advocating his buddy Murray consider the same procedure.
"Seeing the way Andy Murray's feeling kind of hit a nerve with me," Bob Bryan told the media in Melbourne. "I'd love to see him do a similar surgery and feel the relief that it gives. Because I think our hips are pretty similar: just worn down, no cartilage...
"(Andy's) a special guy. No one has a heart like him. The match out there he just left it all out there. It's a little bit hard to watch because we hate to see athletes in pain, but we fight through it like crazy. It's unbelievable."
Murray has been monitoring Bryan's progress and has spoken to the former world No. 1 doubles player several times about his experiences.
"I just represent an option for him," Bob Bryan said. "That guy does everything you can possibly do as far as training and rehab and he's talked to a million specialists. But I'm the only guy to be playing on tour with a metal hip.
"And so he's been watching me like a hawk. He's asking me how I'm feeling after matches after practices where I'm at, just trying to gauge how long it would take him or if this procedure is an option."
The 41-year-old Bryan believes this procedure is Murray's last shot to save his career.
More importantly, he says it could improve the quality of life for his friend.
"I think it's to the point this is probably his last option," Bob Bryan said. "I'd love to see him do it just for quality of life. He can sleep, walk, be with the kids and play. It's frustrating when you can't put on your shoes."