Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray made a valiant return to tennis this week as the former world No.1 competed at the Battle Of The Brits.
The 33-year-old had not played a single game of competitive tennis since way back in November, however, the Scot was back in action on June 24. Murray will face the likes of Kyle Edmund, Liam Broady and James Ward in what he has described as the “group of death”.
The event, organized by Jamie Murray, will take its course throughout a six-day period at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre and is being held to raise money for the NHS in what will be a fantastic event for a fantastic cause.
The format of the event will be the exact same that is used for the ATP finals, so once the round-robin is played out, two from each group will advance to the knockout stages. There will also be a doubles event taking place and will be similar, except there will only be six teams, split into groups of three with the top two making way for the knockout stages.
There will be no ranking points up for grabs, other than bragging rights, however, the event will be crucial for Andy’s return.
According to Feliciano Lopez, the scot is eyeing up a sensational return to the US Open in November, should the hard-court Grand Slam go ahead.
After Murray’s first hip operation, the 33-year-old put up a miniature comeback as he went on to win the doubles title at Queen’s with Feliciano Lopez and the European Open singles title in Antwerp before crashing out of the Davis Cup a month later.
Here’s what a positive Feliciano Lopez had to say on Andy’s recovery and potential comeback: “Actually two days ago I was talking to him, and he was really pumped about the US Open, he was starting to practice again.
“I asked about the hip, how it was feeling, and he was positive. He might be able to compete again. I’m crossing my fingers to see Andy playing again, of course. It would be great for everybody, especially for him.
“He needs to wait a little bit to see how the hip is going to respond. But he was positive. He has started to play a little bit, and I think he’s really keen to play if the US Open is finally happening.”
With the coronavirus taking its toll on the tennis circuit, the added break would have only helped in Andy Murray’s bid to return to the heights of his mega 2016 season, where he claimed a two-time Wimbledon Grand Slam winners medal, whilst seeing out the year as world number one.
The extra good news is that Murray could well be the only member of “the big four” to participate in this year’s US Open.
Roger Federer has already made it clear that his 2020 season is all well and over after undergoing knee surgery whilst the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have expressed reservations over travelling to the United States, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, let's not look too far ahead. Andy still has to get through this mini-tournament without sustaining an injury and staying healthy. And, as history has proven, the probability of that is slim.
Doubles specialist Jamie Murray is paired with Davis Cup team-mate Neal Skupski and will face Evans and Lloyd Glasspool, and Liam Broady and Norrie.
In the other doubles group, Edmund and Draper go head-to-head with Dom Inglot and Clarke, and Joe Salisbury and Jonny O'Mara.
Wimbledon may have been cancelled for the first time since World War II, however, tennis is officially back and what better than to see our man Andy Murray back on the court again and if you are wondering, all the action will be covered on Eurosport and Amazon Prime, so make sure you get your free trials going.
This article was written exclusively for golear.co.uk.
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