Andy Murray: Could health issues end his tennis career? The star’s gruelling setbacks

Andy Murray and Ash Barty pay tribute to each other

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Andy seemed on top form in the match yesterday, that was until his opponent took a eight minute long toilet break before the fifth set of their first-round match. Infused by the situation, Andy accused Stefanos of cheating saying that leaving court for that amount of time is “nonsense and he knows it.” However, after a devastating loss to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in this year’s Wimbledon the former champ might be past his prime health wise.

Since 2017 Andy has had some noticeable injuries that have affected his game.

This year’s Wimbledon was the first time he had played a singles’ match at the iconic courts in four years.

In an interview with The Evening Standard back in May of this year he revealed that “The past few years have been tough”.

The most noticeable injury the star has had to face was on his hip.

This led to a number of consultations with hip specialists and in January 2018 the star had to have surgery.

Although both Andy and his team were reluctant to reveal the details of his surgery, experts speculated that he had to have hip impingement – a problem with the ball-and-socket joint.

Professor Max Fehily, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and clinical director at the Manchester Hip Clinic at the time said: “Repetitive and heavy hip flexion can damage the cartilage of the socket and can lead to deformity of the ball.

“This is a common injury in high-impact sports such as martial arts, rugby and gymnastics. It’s not as common in tennis, but Murray is such an impact player.”

The surgery involves attaching a metal cap to the ball in the hip after it has been smoothed down.

This metal strip is put in place in the pelvic socket – a good alternative to those who do not want a full hip replacement.

After surgery the future of Andy’s career looked bleak, with 95 percent of the people who have the surgery being able to play only low impact sports such as golf.

Against all odds, Andy returned to tennis in the 2018 US Open, despite being defeated in the second round his reappearance made fans hopeful that he was getting back on top form.

However, a second hip operation in 2019 caused more setbacks for the player.

Speaking about his new metal hips Andy said: “Once I had the metal hip I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. There’s just — at times, I didn’t expect it to be quite like this.

“It’s either do it or stop playing, and I still want to keep playing. I just don’t enjoy it as much as maybe I did a few years ago.”

Putting aside his health and despair, Andy prepared to join the US Open once again.

However, the former world No1 was hit with more setbacks as he suffered a “freak” groin injury.

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He believed he did it in the middle of the night whilst at the Miami Open.

The tennis star was forced to return to London where he ensured injury rehab, a place he has become all too familiar with.

The experience was described by Andy as “extremely frustrating.”

After enduring so much, and the pressure of consistent tournaments, is this the final sign from his body telling him enough is enough?

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