Former World No. 1 Andy Murray says he is serving like he did in his mid-20s in another encouraging sign…
Murray: I’m serving as hard as I was in my mid-20s
Andy Murray (Credit Image: © Matthias Oesterle via ZUMA Wire)
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray says he is serving like he did in his mid-20s in another encouraging sign for his continued comeback from career-threatening hip surgery.
Murray played his first matches in seven months at last week’s Battle of the Brits exhibition in Roehampton, making the semi-finals before going down to Dan Evans.
The three-time major champion improved with each match, but the biggest aspect of his game that noticeably improved was his serve.
Murray revealed he had been struggling significantly with his service action, but since undergoing career-saving hip resurfacing surgery, he was able to return to his previous movement.
“For the two years before I had the operation I couldn’t extend my leg properly, so my right leg would always bend when I went to extend it and that was affecting my serve a lot. I had to change my ball toss and was not able to drive up properly,” Murray told the BBC.
“But now, because it does extend properly, I am able to serve well again and am able to serve as hard as I was in my mid-20s, which given I didn’t know I was going to be able to play again has been really positive.
“Obviously when you are able to serve bigger and harder, it means more shorter points – and that means good news for the body and the hip. The harder I serve, the better it is for my other hip I guess.”
All forms of professional tennis have been suspended since March, but both the ATP and WTA tours are set to resume next month.
Murray is scheduled to play the Citi Open in Washington D.C. from August 14 and the US Open, which starts on August 31.
The 33-year-old is pleased that tournaments are being played before the end of the year – as long as it’s safe – but he also said he wasn’t happy with the way Roland Garros unilaterally shifted their slam to a couple of weeks after the US Open.
“Getting the US Open and the French Open played this year is a good thing, I think. It’s positive, I just don’t like the way the French Open went about scheduling their event,” he said.
“But we’re going to have to go back to playing at some stage. The most important thing is that the events are safe.”
