FORGET Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Niki Lauda. If Andy Murray can claim another Grand Slam title in the months and years which follow him tearfully outlining his retirement plans to the watching world in Australia back in January it might just be the sporting comeback story to end them all.
It would be a cold-hearted first minister indeed who didn’t immediately declare a public holiday in his honour across Scotland.
No wonder the news this week that the younger Murray sibling has opted to take up a doubles spot for the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club – he will play with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, or ‘Deliciano’ as Andy’s mum Judy once christened him – was greeted with delight by the Scot’s army of supporters.
Amongst those he joins in the tournament are his big brother Jamie, who will play with Scouser Neal Skupski, and Jamie’s former double partner Bruno Soares, ow in two with Mate Pavic. Not to mention the Bob and Mike Bryan, the former of which has found a similar hip resurfacing no impediment to his successful run in the doubles version of the sport.
READ MORE: Andy Murray set for competitive return in doubles action at Queen’s Club
While it is a sure sign that the Scot is ahead of schedule as he recovers from his own procedure, and encouraging news when it comes to the likelihood of seeing him back in doubles action at Wimbledon at the start of July, of course it is wise to be circumspect when it comes to hopes of the 32-year-old making it back to his very best.
As Bryan would surely concede, it is one thing making it back to the world of doubles, where serving and volleying minimises the importance of mobility around the court, and quite another having to scurry back and forth to live with the punishing rallies you find in men’s singles. While Andy has spoken himself of using a spell in the doubles form of the game - who knows perhaps at times with his brother - to break him back in for a return to singles, there are still no guarantees at all that we will ever see the Scot back out there in the individual form of the sport.
I recall an interview I did with ‘Bionic’ Brian Baker, a luckless US tennis player who nonetheless recorded the best results of his career after the procedures he underwent to get both his left and right hips resurfaced not to mention a further surgery to repair his left labrum.
His story is a remarkable one but it took him fully four years for his hip to have settled down sufficiently for him to be in a position to get back out playing singles matches on the tour again.
And even then it put strain on different parts of his body, leading to further complications down the line.
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“I was a little bit younger than Andy when I came back but my joints were probably a little bit older than my age!” Baker told me back in January. “I was okay playing with some limitations and some pain because I wanted to prove that I could go out there and have a good career.
“But I was never No 1 in the world or competing for slams like Andy did,” he added. “If I had already won Grand Slams and accomplished a lot of things that I wanted to accomplish, I am not sure I would have been going back.”
But times have moved on, and medical procedures have moved on. And it is never wise to bet against Andy Murray. He appears healthy, happy and pain-free, and however competitive he finds himself in these upcoming doubles matches, just competing on court is likely to do him good.
Queen’s Club, of course, is a venue which has had a huge affect upon his career: the five-time champion is more successful than any other player at the venue. He won his first ever tour level match there, not to mention arranging an impromptu benefit match for his friend Ross Hutchins when he was stricken with lymphoma a few years back.
Such a recovery, of course, will leave certain people feeling rather silly about having made such a fuss in the first place. Indeed, having made all those premature tributes to him back in January, his rivals (and friends) were still getting their head round having him back on the tour yesterday.
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“I always thought he will find a way to be back because he is still young and still very passionate about the game,” said Nadal.
“We were told this could be it, so ‘can you please make a message?’” said Federer, of his contribution to a video tribute in Australia. “I saw him after his match against Bautista-Agut, and I was like ‘so what’s up, are you really retiring?’ He didn’t know. I think all of us top guys would be thrilled to see him back on the tour.”
Lord knows, these are still baby steps. But having slayed the ghosts of British tennis to conquer the world once already, it says it all about this superhuman Scot that no-one is writing off his chances of battling back from the brink to do it all over again.
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